Another Way
by julesmonster
Summary: Blaine convinces Kurt that he has more options than just NYADA... A fluffy story that spans from early in Season 3 thru College graduation.
1. Chapter 1

**Another Way**

**By Julesmonster**

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:** So, I started this story a while ago and just finished it this past weekend. The story idea was born when I was re-watching the first episode of season three this past summer and realized how unrealistic it was that a guidance counselor would let anyone believe that there was only one school that is right for them. And so this story was born. It has a lot of spoilers for season three, but they are intermingled with my AU storyline. There are no spoilers for season four, since I started this long before this season began.

There will be 11 chapters and an epilogue, and I will post a chapter each day until they are all online. I hope you enjoy this fluffy story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Jules

**BKBKBKBKBK**

"I cannot believe Miss Pillsbury actually implied that the only school that could meet your needs was NYADA," Blaine ranted and Kurt couldn't really blame him for his outrage. Blaine had been pacing the length of his bedroom while Kurt had told him about his meeting with McKinley's only guidance counselor. Kurt meanwhile was lying on his side, arm propping up his head, on Blaine's bed and watching his boyfriend.

"I know," Kurt sighed. "And the sad part is that Rachel totally bought into it. You know how she gets... she's totally convinced that it has to be NYADA or nothing if she wants to succeed. At least I'd had a couple meetings with Mr. Clinton at Dalton last year and know better. What about Pace? Or NYU? Or even Juilliard? Hell, U Michigan has great theater and music departments. There are _definitely_ other options."

Blaine nodded his agreement before looking thoughtfully at Kurt. He sat beside his boyfriend and ran his fingers through Kurt's hair. The only reason he could get away with such an act was because the two of them had no plans to go back out in public that evening. Blaine's parents were once again on a business trip and Burt had agreed to let Kurt spend the weekend if they both promised that there would be no alcohol and no parties. Neither father nor son had discussed sleeping arrangements, each figuring that Burt was better off not knowing anything for sure, even if he suspected that the two boys would share a bed. Even if they hadn't gone all the way, they certainly were more sexually active than Burt wanted to know about.

"Have you given any more thought to what Mr. Jackson mentioned last year?"

Kurt flopped onto his back and looked up at Blaine. "I have, but I just… I've had absolutely no classical training. I've not even taken any voice classes. How in the world could I be ready for anything like Julliard in time? I have less than four months before auditions, and less than two before their application is due. I'm sure I could get through on acting, but music…"

"You have a natural gift, Kurt," Blaine said. "And you are so talented. Do you realize just how rare a true countertenor is? One who sings in a modal voice rather than falsetto?"

"I do know," Kurt said quietly. "I've done the research. I mean, after we figured out that my voice really wasn't going to change. I looked into it."

"Is it because you don't like opera or classical music?" Blaine asked.

Kurt actually laughed at that and sat up to look at Blaine in the eye. "No. You remember how much I loved the operas we saw at Opera Columbus last year and over the summer. I loved the sheer drama and spectacle of the art form almost as much as I love Broadway musicals. _HMS Pinafore_ was just brilliant. So was _Aida_. And I love the fact that my voice would be considered an asset rather than a detriment in that world. But I'm just not sure that I can cram a lifetime of training into a few months."

"Will you be mad at me if I tell you that I sort of set up a meeting with a voice coach?" Blaine asked sheepishly. "I mean, you won't know if it's possible if you don't at least talk to someone who would know."

Kurt opened and then closed his mouth again before sitting up and saying, "I should be, but I'm not. You're right. It can't hurt to at least talk about it with a professional. When is this meeting? And who are we meeting?"

"Tomorrow," Blaine said. "Susan Grant was a rather well known performer in her time, but now she works with the performers at Opera Columbus and she teaches a handful of private students. She's friends with Wes' mom and agreed to talk with us. She hasn't agreed to take you on as a student but if you impress her, I bet she will."

Kurt wanted to be upset, but a part of him recognized that Blaine was trying to help. "You mean she's going to want to hear me sing tomorrow? I have nothing prepared, Blaine!"

"You can do 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina,'" Blaine said in a placating rush. "And 'Defying Gravity.' Those would show your range and you're amazing at both of those songs."

Kurt huffed and flopped back onto the bed. "Fine but be prepared to run through both songs until your fingers bleed tonight. I refuse to make an ass of myself."

Blaine grinned. "Dinner first and then we can go to the music room and I will play piano for you as long as you want."

Kurt just smiled and pulled Blaine closer for a kiss.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Kurt hid his nervousness rather well as they pulled up in front of a small Tudor style house in Troy the next morning. Kurt had been too nervous to eat breakfast, but that was okay. They could eat after the meeting was over. But in the meantime, Kurt felt like he was preparing for an audition and not just for advice over tea, like Blaine tried to convince him.

"You must be Blaine and Kurt?" Susan was rather pretty despite being in her sixties. She was much smaller than Kurt had expected, his mind having conjured images of robust women belting out German operas, even though he had seen several opera divas in Columbus who certainly didn't fit that mold.

"Please, come in."

"Thank you, Mrs. Grant," Kurt said as they followed her into the cozy living room. The home was furnished tastefully and Kurt's eyes were automatically drawn to the full-sized grand piano that took up half of the room. "Your home is lovely."

"Thank you." She smiled as she waved for them to take a seat. After she poured tea for them and began passing them cups doctored to their preferences, she continued, "Please, call me Susan. Even after thirty years, I always look around for my mother-in-law when I hear Mrs. Grant. Now, Blaine said over the phone that you think you might be interested in pursuing a career in classical voice, but are afraid that you have left it too late to be accepted into any programs. Is that right?"

"Essentially," Kurt said as he clasped Blaine's hand. "I had always believed the Broadway was where I wanted to be, but the truth is that with my range, there just aren't very many parts available in musical theater. And then Blaine took me to see _HMS Pinafore_ last season in Columbus and I was entranced. Since then, we've been to three other productions and I have to say, I'm not sure why I've never thought of Opera before, but it certainly fits my desire to both sing and act. Plus it has the added benefit of having actual roles for countertenors."

"This is true," Susan agreed with a nod. "Countertenors are a valuable commodity in the opera world, especially those who can reach higher ranges with a modal voice. Blaine said that you can reach a high F? Is that modal or falsetto?"

"I can reach a high E flat in modal voice," Kurt said. "At least, so far. I've been working on stretching that."

"But you can hardly hear the transition," Blaine claimed on Kurt's behalf.

Susan smiled indulgently at Blaine's defense. "I'm sure. I would need to hear you sing before I could give you any practical advice about your chances, Kurt."

"I thought you might," Kurt said. "I don't have anything classical prepared, but I do have a couple songs that can give you an idea of my range."

"That's perfectly fine," Susan said. She looked at Blaine. "Will you accompany him?"

"If you don't mind?" Blaine asked. At her nod, the two boys stood and went over to the piano. Blaine took a seat while Kurt stood and faced Susan.

For the next several minutes, Kurt allowed himself to get lost in the music. Though he was always nervous before performing, as soon as the music began, it was like he went into a different world and nothing mattered but him and the music. When he sang, he could pour out all of the emotions that he kept hidden from the world. For those brief minutes, he could drop his mask of bitchy indifference and truly connect with his feelings.

As he sang through the two songs that they had perfected the night before, Kurt forgot all about Susan or college. Only Blaine's presence beside him kept him anchored to the real world.

"Oh my," Susan said after Kurt finished, the final notes of 'Defying Gravity' still hanging in the air. "Oh my, yes."

Kurt smiled at her and Blaine came up and put his arm around Kurt's waist before leading him back to the sofa.

"So, what do you think?" Blaine prompted.

"So much raw talent," Susan said after a moment. "What I would give to go back in time a few years and train you up properly! But, as that is not an option…" She drifted off with a sad shake of her head. "Well, most students who go to college to study classical voice have more formal background in vocal training than you have. What they are lacking is presence and the confidence to emotionally connect with the music. You are the complete opposite. You lack the training but have both confidence and presence in spades. You also have raw talent and a rare voice. I cannot say for sure that you will be able to secure a position at Juilliard, but there are many other schools that I'm positive you could get into without a doubt. Carnegie Mellon, Cincinnati Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, NYU, Oberlin, Northwestern, the Curtis Institute, Peabody… all of these schools have excellent programs that I believe you could be accepted into based upon your raw talent alone, assuming your academics meet requirements."

"Academics are not a problem," Kurt assured her. "My SAT score was 2240 out of 2400 and my GPA is a 4.17. I'm ranked third in my class. And I've got glee club, a job and do some volunteer work. The rest of my application should be fine if I can just ace the auditions."

"Well then, let's discuss your preferences and money," Susan said. "Since we'll be working primarily to get you ready for auditions, you need to know which schools you want to apply to very quickly. And to know that, you need to understand the costs for each of those schools. Juilliard may be the best known, but it is probably also the most expensive and might not be the best value."

Kurt flushed. "Well, money isn't really a problem."

"It's not?" Blaine asked with surprise and then he blushed as well. "Sorry, I just…"

Kurt smiled at his boyfriend. "I know. My dad is a mechanic and even though he owns his own garage, it isn't exactly a high-paying corporate job. But my grandparents started a college fund for me before I was born; they and my father have been putting money away ever since. My grandfather was an investment banker before he retired and taught me a little about investing using that fund. And I've been putting at least two-thirds of everything I make into the fund since I was five. Even my lemonade stand money went into that account. And I've been working at the garage for years. Plus… well, I've rebuilt and sold a few cars over the years. I have more than $400,000 either in the bank or invested."

"Really?" Blaine said with a frown. "Why don't I know about the cars?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You've seen me working on that GTO. And the 69 corvette last spring. What did you think I was doing?"

Blaine shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought they were cars someone brought to the shop I guess."

"That I worked on for months?" Kurt said with a smirk. "Anyway, I buy the cars cheap and fix them up and sell them for a profit. How else do you think I can afford my fabulous wardrobe? My father's idea of a clothing allowance is pitiful."

Susan chuckled at that and the two boys blushed as they remembered that they weren't alone. "Sorry," Blaine mumbled. "You were saying?"

"I was saying that Kurt needs to decide to which schools he wants to apply," Susan said.

"I've had my heart set on New York for a long time," Kurt admitted. "But I know that it may not be the only option, or even the best option for me. But from a personal standpoint, I want the freedom that living in New York would give me."

Susan nodded. "I can understand that. However, I think that you'll find that other cities can offer some of that same freedom. So you don't apply to Oberlin, but Chicago or Boston would be good for that kind of freedom. Or even Peabody in Baltimore. Think it over and when we meet next week, bring the audition requirements for your top five picks and we'll work from there. Okay?"

"Wait, so you're going to help me then?" Kurt asked with a grin.

"I am," Susan said. "We don't have long to prepare for your auditions since most will be scheduled in November or December, so be prepared to work your cute little tail off. And I'll expect you here for three hours every Saturday and for two hours during the week. Wednesday or Thursday afternoons would be best for my schedule."

"Uh, Wednesdays," Kurt said after a brief moment. "We have show-choir on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"Then I'll expect you here Wednesday evening with a list of colleges and their audition requirements."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Kurt couldn't believe that Susan had agreed to help him out and she wasn't even willing to take payment for her help. Blaine told him over and over again that Kurt was just that talented as they spent the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday working on the list of schools, but it was really hard for him to believe. After a lifetime of being put down, ignored or passed over, even by teachers that were supposed to care, it was hard to accept that anyone found something about him extraordinary. But Kurt did what Susan asked anyway and sorted through all of the schools she had mentioned along with about twenty other schools he found online.

On Sunday afternoon, Kurt dropped onto Blaine's bed and sighed. "We haven't even talked about how any of this affects you."

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked with a frown. He moved from his seat at the desk to lie beside Kurt on the bed. He twined their fingers.

Kurt took a deep breath. "We had plans for New York. Now I'm looking at schools that are definitely not in New York. What if I end up in Boston or Pittsburgh or Baltimore?"

"Then we figure it out," Blaine said. "But I could very well find that I like a school wherever you end up. I'm not even set on what I want to study yet, let alone where. I wanted to go to New York because that's where I thought you would be."

"You should go to the school that's best for you," Kurt said earnestly.

Blaine chuckled. "I could say the same to you."

Kurt opened his mouth and then closed it again. He was silent for a full minute before speaking again. "I guess I have to concede that. Though… I don't have to like it."

"Think about it this way, there are other very good schools in all of the cities you are looking at," Blaine said. "I could very well find the perfect school in the same city. And if I go for music, I could end up in the same school."

Kurt nodded slowly. "What have you thought about studying in college?"

"Well, I like performing, but I don't think I want to be a singer," Blaine said. "I've considered going for either classical piano or composition. Or both. But I'm also interested in physics or engineering or even architecture. Like I said, I don't really know what I want to do yet. I do know that there are good schools in each city that you are considering where I could study any of those subjects."

Kurt rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms around Blaine before giving him a rather seductive smile. "So what you're saying is that you'll go wherever I will go?"

"In your heart and your mind, I'll stay with you for all of time," Blaine sang softly and then captured Kurt's lips in a heated kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part Two**

Kurt was amazed with just how much of a difference a few lessons with Susan had made. Even Mr. Schuster had commented on his improved technique when he performed his weekly assignments. He hadn't told anyone about his lessons. He had considered telling Rachel, but then she decided to run against him for class president. After that, he figured it wasn't anyone else's business.

Getting turned down for the lead in _West Side Story_ had hurt, but he didn't really blame the three co-directors for choosing Blaine. Blaine really could play straight better than Kurt. As long as he stayed away from topics like fashion or Broadway, no one could tell he wasn't straight. He could even hold conversations about football that Kurt, as a former player, could not understand. Those girls from Crawford Country Day School had all tried to give him their numbers. Only Mercedes had ever mistaken Kurt for straight.

In the end, he wasn't as upset over losing the part as he thought he would be. It proved that he was right to pursue other alternatives besides Broadway. He knew that his father thought he should go out there and break through the barriers, but the truth was he wasn't sure he wanted it enough to fight that hard. Even the perfect triple threat with the perfect body and style would have a hard time actually getting work. There were tens of thousands of actors trying to make it onto a broadways stage and less than twenty Broadway theaters. Even counting off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway, there had to be more than a hundred actors going out for every role.

Kurt knew he was talented, but… At least with Opera, he knew that his voice made him a rare and sought-after commodity. He could still make beautiful music and act and be on stage. And he was good. Susan said so and she should know. Kurt had done a little research on her after their meeting and he knew that at the height of her career, she had sung at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Kennedy Center and even the Paris Opera.

Then Sebastian showed up and threw a bit of a monkey wrench in the couple's bliss. For the first time Kurt really felt threatened by an outsider and he allowed his jealousy loose. Blaine was, of course, rather oblivious to the new Warbler's nefarious schemes. His interference, along with doubts Artie planted in Blaine's mind about his virginity, almost caused a huge rift between them. Luckily, they talked and worked through their problems. And then they lost their virginity together because they loved each other and not out of insecurity or for a better performance. It was the right time and with the right person.

As the school year quickly passed, Kurt concentrated on getting his applications finished and then worked on his audition pieces. Most schools required three pieces: one in English, one in either Italian, French or German, and the third was up to the prospective student. Kurt was glad that he had taken Italian at Dalton so he was at least familiar enough with that language to get by. He was already fluent in French and very comfortable with Spanish. So Susan suggested they skip anything German for the time being and so he ended up with one song each in English, Italian and French. By November, Kurt was singing those three songs in his sleep—literally if his father was to be believed.

There was a lot of drama going on in the club, but for once, Kurt did not allow himself to get caught up in it. When Mercedes left the New Directions, he wasn't really surprised. The two of them had grown apart and she had made it very clear after he returned from Dalton that he was no longer her priority. He wished that she hadn't become quite so self-serving, but in a way, he couldn't blame her.

Even when Brittany and Santana followed Mercedes, Kurt didn't worry much about it. He knew that Blaine was having a difficult time with Finn and tried to be supportive, but in all truth, Kurt was so focused on his auditions that he didn't have much time for much more than that.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Once elections were over and Rachel had been suspended for stuffing the ballot box, there was nothing else to do but prepare for sectionals and for his auditions. Kurt had scheduled three of his auditions in Cincinnati on the first weekend in December. There were three more in Pittsburgh the following week and then sectionals was the weekend after that. In all, Kurt was actually rather glad that he didn't have a huge solo for sectionals this year, though he was singing "ABC" with Mike and Tina.

Of course Blaine insisted on going with Kurt for all of his auditions. Burt, busy making arrangement to head to DC in January, didn't object too much to missing out. And so, the first weekend in December, Kurt and Blaine headed down interstate 75 in the Navigator. They checked into a hotel not far from the Cincinnati Conservatory and then headed over for the brief campus tour that Kurt had signed up for. Their guide was actually a lot more helpful than either of them had expected. He was a junior in the voice department, but he was also gay and told them all of the best places to go and the areas to be careful.

Saturday morning, they went back to the conservatory and Kurt had his first audition for them. Kurt was pretty sure he nailed the audition, but he wasn't as confident about how the interview went afterward. He had been honest about his recent introduction to classical voice and his desire to get out of Ohio and he didn't think the interviewer was impressed.

They had lunch at a small diner nearby and then headed for UC, where Juilliard was holding its regional auditions that weekend. Kurt was a lot more nervous about this audition because he still really wanted to live in New York. He had been ecstatic when he had gotten the invitation from them to audition. But, being the consummate performer that he was, one couldn't tell that he was nervous as he walked onto the stage and, once he began to sing, the nervousness disappeared. Unlike CC, Juilliard didn't have a separate interview, but they did talk to him after his performance. This time, when he talked about how he came to be interested in classical voice, the two people behind the table seemed amazed that he had learned so much in such a short period of time.

Blaine was waiting outside when Kurt exited the room a beaming smile still on his face. "So I take it that it went well? I could hear a little bit of you singing from out here, but…"

"It went very well," Kurt agreed. "Now, let's go get dinner to celebrate and then we are going back to the hotel to make use of that ridiculously huge bed."

Blaine flushed with arousal but nodded. "Absolutely."

Sunday morning, they went to the Cincinnati Opera, where Peabody was holding its regional auditions. Kurt's audition went near perfectly and then he sat down with the admissions interviewer. Rather than a formal interview, this was more like a discussion. The interviewer invited Blaine to join them and then asked Kurt questions about himself and why he had chosen to apply to Peabody, but she also let Kurt and Blaine ask questions and told them a lot about living in Baltimore. She even told them a little about the LGBT community on campus and in the city.

Kurt and Blaine headed back to Lima filled with excitement over the things they had learned and with just how well the weekend had gone overall.

"I still don't think that Cincinnati is right for me," Kurt said. "I know Dad would like it if I was a little closer to home, but…"

"As nice as that tour guide was, I know what you mean," Blaine said. "It may be a city and there may be some progressive thinkers, but the majority of the people are still very… close-minded. Did you see the looks we got at the restaurant last night?"

"I know," Kurt sighed. "And we were just holding hands."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Though Rachel and a few others from glee asked about where the two had gone that weekend, all Kurt would tell anyone was that he was visiting schools. Kurt did give a full account of their weekend to Burt and Carole—minus the amount of time they spent in the king sized bed at their hotel—and talked about what he had liked most about each of the three schools and what he had liked least. Burt was actually really excited by the thought of Kurt going to Peabody, as he would only be an hour from DC if he went there. It was almost as good as having Kurt in Ohio.

The next weekend, they headed to Pittsburgh. Because it was a longer drive, they headed out Friday morning rather than Friday afternoon. When they arrived, Blaine dropped Kurt off at Carnegie Mellon for his audition and interview and then went to check them into the hotel downtown. By the time he arrived back, Kurt was once again smiling rather widely. It had obviously gone well.

Saturday, they went to the hotel where Boston Conservatory was holding its auditions and interviews. This time, they sat through an informational session about the school before waiting for the audition. After that, Kurt had his interview and Blaine was again invited to join him. Finally, they sat through several informational sessions on financial aid and campus life.

"I do like the idea of Boston," Blaine said after they were headed back to the hotel that evening. "All that history, and there are a lot of great schools in the area."

"But the idea of Boston and the reality may be two different things," Kurt said. "I think that before I make any final decisions, I'm going to actually visit both Boston and Baltimore, assuming I get accepted. But that can wait until spring break, I think. And Dad said something about wanting to go with us."

Blaine nodded. "I can understand that."

"The advisor in the financial aid session had a good point," Kurt said. "I hadn't really considered applying, since I have so much saved up for school, but it wouldn't hurt to get any grants or scholarships I might qualify for. And then maybe I could afford to live off campus with my very wonderful boyfriend when he joins me."

Blaine grinned. "I do like the sound of that."

Sunday, they went to NYU's audition and before Kurt even made it into the room to sing he knew that this was not going to be the right school for him. It wasn't that anyone was rude or unpleasant. It was just the fact that there were so many people all clamoring for the same spots. There was a competitive air in the waiting room and the other hopefuls all seemed to be trying to intimidate each other. Despite the fact that Juilliard was probably the best school in the country, Kurt hadn't felt that cutthroat feeling with any of the other people waiting to audition. His talk with the interviewer afterward simply confirmed his suspicions.

Blaine let Kurt brood for a bit as they drove back to Ohio but eventually, he felt the need to ask how it went.

"Those people are bloodthirsty," Kurt said. "Remember I told you about that NYADA mixer? Well this was worse. And the interviewer talked like it was a great thing. 'The competitive spirit helps students prepare for the harsh realities of the music world.' I know that he's right to a degree, but I just… I feel like I want to go to a school where students actually try to support each other instead of tear each other down."

"I can totally understand that," Blaine agreed. "Peabody, Julliard and BC all three seemed like they would have that kind of uplifting environment."

"I was thinking the same thing," Kurt nodded. "I think my list in preferential order—before visiting all the campuses, mind you—is Juilliard, Peabody, Boston and then Carnegie Mellon."

"Actually, I'm not surprised by that," Blaine said.

"Of course it all depends on who accepts me," Kurt said with a small sigh. "I hate waiting."

"Have you told Rachel that you aren't going for NYADA yet?" Blaine asked.

Kurt hesitated. "Actually, I thought I'd audition if I'm a finalist. I'm not going to go, but I'd be interested to know if they would have accepted me. And I want to know if I'm better than Rachel. Is that shallow?"

Blaine chuckled. "A little, but I love you and all your wonderful flaws."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

After winning sectionals and reuniting the two McKinley glee clubs, Kurt and Blaine spent the winter break working together on Kurt's latest project car: a 1972 Challenger. It was while Blaine was helping Kurt replace the drive train that Kurt brought up something that he hadn't really thought much about before.

"This is going to sound really rude, but how are you planning to pay for college?" Kurt asked. "I mean, I know that your dad said that he wouldn't pay for it if you don't go to an Ivy League school. And things aren't that great between you guys so I doubt he'll change his tune in the next year. Do we need to make my saving stretch to cover you too?"

Blaine chuckled. "No, Kurt, though it is very kind of you to offer. And honestly, even if you end up in Boston, I doubt I'll go to Harvard. I might consider Columbia if you are at Juilliard. But if nothing changes between now and when I start college, I'll still be fine. I have a trust fund from my grandparents that is supposed to cover college and living expenses while I'm studying. It will be released to me when I turn 18, so I don't have to rely on my father. And I have another trust that will be released when I turn 21 that's supposed to help me get a start in life."

Kurt let out a relieved breath. "Hand me that socket wrench?" Once Blaine had given him the requested tool, Kurt went back to work and to their conversation. "Well, I guess that's good to know. Honestly, I never really know what to expect from your parents. They're always polite, but…"

"I know what you mean," Blaine said. "They just… they live in a different world than we do and they don't know how to deal with...me. They still love me, but they don't understand me. And that's okay, I guess. It could be worse."

Kurt looked up and nodded at Blaine. "I guess it could be. I just wish they could be as supportive as my dad is."

"Me too," Blaine said quietly.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

January brought Sebastian back into their lives and not in a good way. Not only did Blaine spill their Regionals ideas to him, but then Sebastian nearly blinded Blaine with a tainted slushie. It was not a good month at all. Blaine was pretty depressed over the fact that the Warblers had turned their backs on both of them just because they went to McKinley now.

"I thought they were our friends," Blaine said quietly one evening before his surgery.

"I know," Kurt said. He wished that he could reassure Blaine more, but he really couldn't. He was just as upset by their apparent indifference to Sebastian's attack. He just couldn't vent his emotions to Blaine right now. He had enough on his plate already.

Kurt was still going to see Susan twice a week and she continued to tell him how amazed she was by his progress. He was learning to sight read and they were working on his _almost _perfect pitch. But waiting to hear back from any of the schools where he auditioned was nerve wracking. He had finally gotten the invitation to audition for NYADA. Rachel had gotten her letter later than Kurt and had been weird for a while, but then she let slip how Finn had asked her to marry him and suddenly it all made sense.

"Rachel only accepted Finn's proposal because she thought she didn't get into NYADA," Kurt said, wanting to take Blaine's mind off the Warblers and his upcoming surgery. "I'm almost positive."

"Did she at least apply to some other schools?" Blaine wondered. In truth, he was grateful for the change of subject. "Or is she still in that all or nothing mindset?"

Kurt rolled his eyes at his friend's stupidity. "I tried to convince her to look at other schools, but she's standing firm. I can't believe her dads haven't made her apply anywhere else. Dad made me apply to Ohio State even though we both know that it's the last place I want to go to school."

"My dad is already talking about which Ivy League schools I should apply to," Blaine said. "And I'll do it just to shut him up, but…"

"Yeah," Kurt agreed. He leaned over to brush his fingers through Blaine's hair. It wasn't nearly as gelled down as usual. "So, I finished the Challenger Saturday. Dad thinks he might already have a buyer, though I'm not sure it wouldn't be better to take it auction."

"How much is he offering?" Blaine asked.

Kurt shrugged. "$25,000. After my costs, that leaves me $18,000 profit, which is better than I've made on any of the other cars. But I've seen cars like that go for over $35,000 at auction."

"It is a beautiful car," Blaine said. "Maybe your dad has a reason to want to sell to this guy? And you don't know for sure what could happen at an auction. You might not even get the 25."

"I'll talk it over with dad," Kurt said. "I was wondering if you wanted to help me with the next project."

"You already have something in mind?" Blaine wondered.

"I thought I'd get something for Finn for college," Kurt said. "His graduation gift. He's always complaining about his truck and I can really see why. It's a rust heap. And I saw a Ford Ranchero that I think he'd really love."

"Ranchero?" Blaine asked. "I don't think I've heard of that."

"It's a car-based pickup," Kurt said. "Like the El Camino."

"Oh, then yes, I think Finn would really like that," Blaine agreed. "I won't be able to help until after…"

"I know," Kurt sighed. "I wish your parents would have found a local doctor. Why exactly are they taking you to North Carolina?"

Blaine shrugged. "Duke Medical Center has the best optical surgeon in the country. I wish you could be with me."

"Me too," Kurt agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part Three**

The 1975 Ranchero was a great looking car, despite years of neglect under the hood. The entire engine had to be replaced along with the drive train and the transmission. Since the original car didn't have much horsepower compared to most muscle cars, Kurt decided to improve on the original when he began ordering the various parts for the car. By the time Blaine returned from his surgery, Kurt had a good start on the mechanics and was already thinking about paint colors for the two-toned vehicle.

"At this rate, you'll be done long before graduation," Blaine said as he watched Kurt work on the first Sunday after his return.

Kurt shrugged. "I needed to keep busy. You were gone, and I was getting anxious about hearing from the schools. Actually, I'm glad you got back before any word came. I want you with me when I figure out my future."

"You're doing a cream leather interior?" Blaine asked. He was in a much better mood since he had returned. He told Kurt that he got several letters of apology from the Warblers along with a huge bouquet of flowers while he was in North Carolina. Since then, he'd even talked to Trent and Jeff a few times. And of course Wes and David had been appalled by the Warblers' actions and had made it clear to both Blaine and the current Warblers that they expected better. They were responsible for another bouquet of flowers.

"That's the plan," Kurt said. "Jake seems to think it will look great. And he's convinced me to use red piping and stitching to match the exterior."

"So you are going with red?" Blaine asked. "I thought you said it was too conventional."

Kurt sighed. "It is, but so is my brother. He'll like the red with cream better than my idea of blue and teal."

"True," Blaine said.

They spent the rest of their time working and catching Blaine up on the glee club gossip.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Personally, Kurt liked Cooper, but he could understand why Blaine didn't. He was kind of ridiculous. And he had ditched Blaine a long time ago. But by the end of Cooper's brief visit, they had reconciled and Cooper had even invited the two of them to visit him in California sometime.

It was only two days after Cooper's departure that Kurt got responses from the various schools. Within three days, all six schools had contacted him. Kurt decided to save them all up and look through them with Blaine all at once. This was how the two of them ended up sitting on Kurt's bed after school that Friday afternoon. One by one they opened and read through the information but didn't really comment much until after they had opened everything.

"I'm not really surprised," Blaine said with a grin once they had time to absorb everything. "I knew you were magnificent at those auditions."

Kurt grinned back at him. "I'm not surprised that I didn't get into Cincinnati, but I was surprised about Carnegie Mellon."

"Who cares about them?" Blaine asked with exasperation. "You were accepted into Juilliard, Peabody and Boston!"

"I'm still not sure how I got accepted into NYU, but I'm definitely not going there," Kurt said as he shoved that packet aside. "We need to start planning our trip to visit Baltimore and Boston. Spring Break is in two weeks."

"We should stop and see Juilliard's campus too," Blaine said. "I know we've both been to New York, but I've never actually seen the school."

"Good idea," Kurt said. "And maybe I can convince my dad to get us tickets to a show."

For the next couple hours they read through all of the information on the three schools and talked about the upcoming trip. Of course, they included time for some spectacular celebratory sex as well.

When Burt and Carole arrived home for family dinner night, Kurt decided to share his news, despite the fact that Finn was actually there. Kurt hadn't told him much about his college plans, mostly because Kurt was afraid that if he did, Finn would spill to everyone else in glee club. But now that he had actually been accepted, Kurt was feeling a little more confident.

"So I heard back from all the schools I applied to," Kurt said once they were all eating the lasagna that he and Blaine had prepared.

"Wait, I thought you hadn't auditioned for NYADA yet," Finn said with confusion.

Kurt flushed. "Well, no, but I've already decided that I'm not going there. I'm still going to audition, but it's more out of curiosity than anything else."

"So you don't want to go to Broadway?" Finn said. "Because Rachel thinks you do."

Kurt sighed. "I tried to explain to her that my voice is just not a good fit for Broadway, but she won't accept that."

"Oh," Finn said with a frown. "So what are you going to do?"

"Kurt's been taking lessons in classical voice for a while now," Blaine said. "And he's applied to several schools for that."

"I want to sing opera," Kurt explained. "The classical forms are much better for my vocal range."

"So," Burt said anxiously. "Which schools?"

Kurt grinned at his father. It made him feel great that Burt didn't even consider the possibility that he wouldn't get in somewhere. "I was accepted at Juilliard, NYU, Boston Conservatory, and the Peabody Institute."

"That's in Baltimore," Blaine explained to Finn. "Part of Johns Hopkins."

"I know I'm not going to accept NYU," Kurt said. "I wasn't impressed with their version of competition. They encourage cutthroat methods."

"So it's down to Boston, Juilliard or Peabody," Blaine said.

Burt nodded. "So have you started to plan our trip for spring break?"

Kurt grinned again. "Yes, we have. We thought two days in each city with a travel day in between. We can meet you in Baltimore, since you'll be back in DC by then. And then we can all drive up to New York and then on to Boston. You can fly or take a train back from there and we'll drive home."

"We'll probably have to miss a day of school," Blaine said. "Because it's a long drive back from Boston, and we thought it would be better to break it up."

Burt nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. We'll stay in my place in DC for the visit to Peabody to save on hotel expenses. Just make the other reservations on my credit card, Kurt. And I know you're going to want to see some show while we're in New York, so go ahead and put that on the card too."

"Thanks Dad," Kurt said with a smile.

"How is your college hunting going, Finn?" Blaine asked. "Have you heard back from Pace about the audition yet?"

He nodded excitedly. "They agreed to let me audition late. And I took Kurt's advice and applied to Marymount, NYU, Hunter and Fordham. I did a video audition for each of those. But NYU will require an in person audition too if I make it that far."

"That's great," Blaine said. "And all of those schools have a broad spectrum of majors so that if you find you don't like acting as much as you think you will, you won't be stuck. Or you could take a double major. I've thought about doing that. The arts are a very difficult career option."

"I've considered getting a degree in languages," Kurt said. "Even if I make it in the opera world, it's good to have a fallback plan. Plus it will help me with singing all those songs in other languages."

Finn nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe. Not sure I can pass one major, yet."

"You can do anything you set your mind to," Kurt insisted. "You just have to work for it."

Finn smiled at his brother. "Thanks, Kurt."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

The next morning, before Kurt left for his voice lesson, Finn caught Kurt over the breakfast table. "So, are you telling Rachel about the other schools? Because I don't want to say anything if you aren't."

Kurt sighed as he set down the plate of waffles he had prepared in front of Finn. "Can you give me until after break? I want to have made a decision about which school I'm attending before I face the inevitable inquisition. She'll demand to know why I'm giving up on my dream."

"Why are you?" Finn asked before shoving a huge bite of waffle into his mouth.

"I'm not," Kurt denied. "Not really. I mean, yes, it was a dream, but it's about as realistic as Artie becoming a dance instructor. I have real limitations that just aren't practical for achieving that goal. But I fell in love with opera when Blaine took me last year. And I would still be singing and performing on stage. I would still have great costumes and enough notoriety to satisfy my ego. It's a more realistic dream, but it's just as good."

"I think I understand," Finn said. "It's like me trying to play professional football. Sure I could go to open tryouts, but the odds are like a zillion to none."

"Exactly," Kurt said.

"But opera, dude," Finn said. "That's some really… boring music there. And it's all in Spanish or something."

Kurt chuckled at his brother. "Italian mostly, but also French, German or English. There are only a few in Spanish. But I know not everyone is a fan of opera. You might find you like it if you give it a chance."

Finn shrugged. "Maybe. And I'm sure I'll come see you perform or something. Listen, I'll keep Rachel in the dark until you get back from your trip."

"Are you still going with her and her dads over break?" Kurt wondered.

Finn nodded. "I want to see some of these schools. I know you put a lot more thought into where you're going and a lot earlier than I have, but I still want to see what I'm getting into. Plus I've got my audition for Pace." He ate a few more bites of waffle before turning back to Kurt. "You know, it would be really cool if we all ended up in New York. I know that Rachel expects that."

Kurt shrugged. "Well, even if I end up in Boston or Baltimore, it's only a short train ride to New York. Or you could come see me. The first year will be really lonely without Blaine."

"So he's still planning on going wherever you end up?" Finn asked.

"He is," Kurt agreed with a smile. "Luckily, there are great schools for engineering either in or close to all three cities."

"Engineering? I thought he was going for music?" Finn said.

"He's still trying to decide," Kurt said. "But I think he's leaning more towards engineering with a minor in music or composition. He doesn't really want to perform for the rest of his life. He likes it, but…I think he enjoys the camaraderie of glee more than performing. He would be happy just singing around the house for the rest of his life."

"Huh," Finn said. "I never would have guessed that."

"Me either until he left Dalton," Kurt said. "I think when he was there, it was the only way he had to stand out, so it was important to him. Now, he can stand out for a lot of reasons and it's better. Notice he hasn't made a big deal about not being front man for New Directions?"

Finn had the grace to flush since he had been pretty obvious in his one-sided rivalry earlier in the year. "I apologized already."

Kurt smirked. "I know. I just like giving you a hard time. I have to get to my voice lesson. You'll clean up the dishes? I don't want Carole to come home and have to do them."

"I'll clean up before I go over to see Rachel," Finn promised.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

The week before Regionals was a rather intense and trying time. Karofsky's suicide attempt hit everyone hard. And then there was the attempted wedding and Quinn's accident. When the school closed for spring break, both Kurt and Blaine were more than ready for some time away. Rather than return a day late, Burt arranged for them to leave two days early, so they arrived in DC on Thursday afternoon and spent that evening and all of Friday letting Burt show them around the city.

Burt took great pride in introducing Kurt and Blaine to his colleagues when they went to see his office before going to the Capitol Building. After that, they went to the Smithsonian for the afternoon. Both boys vowed that no matter where they ended up, they would be back to visit again soon. There was so much to see. Kurt really wanted to see the exhibit on the fashions of the various first ladies.

Saturday, they had their official visit to Peabody. They spent most of the day exploring both that campus and the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. According to everything they had read and everything that their guide told them, even as a music major, Kurt would take many classes at Homewood as it was the main campus. It was only a ten minute drive or a half hour walk between the two campuses and there were shuttles that ran regularly.

The next day, they just explored the city to see what sort of things it had to offer. None of them were very familiar with the area, so it was fun exploring. Burt drove them past Camden Yards and Kurt was grateful that baseball season hadn't yet begun or else he knew that they would have been forced to see a game.

Monday, they drove up to New York and checked into their hotel near Columbus Circle. They had a great view of Central Park and were within walking distance of Lincoln Center and Juilliard. Kurt had found out that there was a recital, so they all headed over to campus that evening to see some of the students perform.

Tuesday, they got their official tour of the campus. Burt spent quite a bit of time quizzing the poor volunteer about housing costs and safety. Truthfully, Kurt had some concerns himself and decided that if he did decide to go to Juilliard, that he would do as the guy suggested and hire a realtor to help him find the right place. In fact, it might not be a bad idea no matter where he went.

That evening, they went to see _Wicked_ and Kurt had to buy several souvenirs. Once they were on their way back to the hotel, however, he admitted to Blaine that as much as he loved the show and musicals in general, he couldn't say that he loved them more than opera now.

"I mean, I'm still learning about opera, and haven't seen nearly as many as I would like, but there's a depth of emotion there that most musicals lack," Kurt said. "I like that most musicals have a happy ending, but there isn't the same catharsis that you get from _Aida_ or _Otello_."

"I think of it like a comedy versus a tragedy," Blaine said. "Both have their place and are important. One is not necessarily better than the other."

"Though there are comedic operas," Kurt said.

"And there are tragic musicals," Blaine countered. "I still think my analogy fits."

On Wednesday, the three of them shopped, much to Burt's consternation. The bright side was the fact that Kurt helped him find a nice gift for Carole's birthday. And they met up with Finn, Rachel, Hiram and LeRoy for dinner. It wasn't hard to keep Rachel from asking too many questions; they just kept redirecting the conversation to her and she was happy to talk about herself all night.

On Thursday, they headed up to Boston and fought their way through some pretty tough traffic both leaving New York and getting into Boston. Still, they were at their hotel before dinner. Kurt had booked them for a harbor cruise and dinner that evening.

The next day, they took their final campus tour. Again, their guide was pretty knowledgeable about both the campus and the city and Burt took advantage of that knowledge. Kurt was impressed with the program that the Conservatory offered, but he wasn't as impressed with the campus or the local people. In truth, they seemed very rude to Kurt. They had stopped someone to ask for directions to parking and had gotten a rather abrupt answer that hadn't been helpful at all. And the campus was basically a series of building on a city street. Sure it was across from a park, but it wasn't what Kurt thought of when he imagined his college life. Even Juilliard's campus was better than that.

Saturday, they looked around town at some of the other colleges for a bit before dropping Burt off at the airport and heading towards home.

"How long before we reach the hotel?" Blaine asked when they had crossed the border into New York.

"Since we aren't stopping until we get to Rochester, about four hours," Kurt said. "Why?"

Blaine looked a little sheepish. "Because we've been together all week, but we haven't had any time alone together and I miss you."

Kurt chuckled. "Well, we should get into Rochester around dinner time, so we'll have plenty of time alone at the hotel tonight."

"Good," Blaine said and grabbed Kurt's hand across the console. "So, what are you thinking about the schools?"

"I'm thinking that Boston is off the list unless you have a deep seeded desire to go to one of the schools there," Kurt said. He reluctantly let go of Blaine's hand so that he could steer. "I liked the program, but… I don't know. I don't think I would be comfortable there."

"So that leaves Juilliard and Peabody," Blaine said. "I think your dad was surprised you didn't just jump at the chance to go to Juilliard."

"I know," Kurt said. "It's New York! It has Broadway and same sex marriage and shopping and great food and museums."

"Well, Maryland may not perform same sex marriages yet, but they do recognize them," Blaine offered. "And it's on the slate for this fall's election to perform same sex marriages. Plus it's really close to DC and all of the culture and food and shopping there."

"Plus, it's really close to DC," Kurt said. "And I could bring the Nav. I couldn't do that in New York."

"What about the schools themselves?" Blaine asked.

"Well, I really do want to get a second degree in languages," Kurt said slowly. "And Peabody is part of Johns Hopkins. They have a great languages program as part of their international studies department. Juilliard doesn't offer any way to get that kind of degree. Though they do have a more widely known reputation at Juilliard, I think anyone who really knows anything about classical music knows Peabody just as well."

"And finances?" Blaine said. "I know you don't think it will be an issue, but you may want to pursue a higher degree and that fund may have to last longer than you think."

"I had considered that," Kurt said. "Juilliard and Peabody both offered me partial academic scholarships, but the cost of Juilliard is much higher than Peabody. And the cost of living in New York is much higher than Baltimore too. Everything from rent to groceries would be higher."

"But you wouldn't have to pay for the Nav," Blaine pointed out. "No insurance or gas."

"It still wouldn't make up the difference," Kurt said. "Plus I'd need a Metro pass."

"That's a lot of reasons pointing in Peabody's favor," Blaine said. "But you need to go where you think you can be happy. What's your heart telling you?"

Kurt huffed a dry laugh. "I never would have thought this, but Baltimore felt right. I loved both campuses. I loved the city. Do you think you could be happy there?"

"Actually," Blaine said with a smile. "I've been thinking the same thing. I just didn't want to sway your decision. Johns Hopkins has a great engineering program and I could still get a minor in music if I want. And if that doesn't work out, there are other schools in DC that are an hour train ride away. I loved both Baltimore and DC. And there would be plenty to see and do. And if we want a weekend in New York, we'll only be three hours away by train."

"So that it then," Kurt said with no small amount of awe in his voice. "We're going to Baltimore."

"We're going to Baltimore," Blaine agreed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part Four**

Burt Hummel actually whooped with joy when Kurt told him his decision. They waited until they got back to Lima and then called Burt and put him on speakerphone. Carole and Finn were there and they both laughed at Burt's excitement.

"Laugh all you want, but my kid's only going to be an hour away from me this fall," Burt said. "At least when I'm in DC."

"Which seems like a lot of the time," Carole said. "Unfortunately."

"Yeah well, you already promised you'll start coming with me more often once the boys are in college," Burt reminded her. "And if Finn's in New York and Kurt's in Baltimore, neither of them will be too far from us in DC."

Once Carole turned off the speakerphone so that she could talk with her husband in private, Kurt and Blaine were left alone with Finn. "So, dude, you going to tell the club now?"

"Actually, I am," Kurt said decisively. "In fact, I think I have the perfect way to tell them."

Blaine smiled knowingly, but Finn didn't get it and Kurt wouldn't explain. He told his brother that he'd have to wait until tomorrow to see.

The next afternoon, Kurt asked Mr. Schuster if he could perform something and then make an announcement. Of course, Mr. Schuster agreed. Kurt smiled at Blaine, who then turned to Brad. Brad would play the piano and Blaine was, for the first time in glee club, going to play the violin. It wasn't his favorite instrument, but he was good enough to accompany Kurt. They had practiced with Brad for a few minutes during a study hall and Blaine was sure that they could do Kurt justice.

Kurt took a deep breath and looked out over the room filled with his friends. This was a bit harder than he had imagined. But this was the way he wanted to tell them and so he would do it. He nodded to Blaine and Brad and the music began.

"_Frondi tenere e belle_

_del mio platano amato_

_per voi risplenda il fato._

_Tuoni, lampi, e procelle_

_non v'oltraggino mai la cara pace,_

_nè giunga a profanarvi austro rapace_.

"_Ombra mai fu_

_di vegetabile,_

_cara ed amabile,_

_soave più._

"_Ombra mai fu_

_di vegetabile,_

_cara ed amabile,_

_soave più._

"_Ombra mai fu_

_di vegetabile,_

_cara ed amabile,_

_soave più._"

Kurt knew that he was good, but the silence in the room was deafening. Did they hate it? But then, Mr. Schuster began to clap and then slowly everyone else did. And it wasn't that half-hearted clap they usually did when Rachel sang yet another Celine or Barbara song. This was real. Kurt smiled and did his usual half-curtsey.

"That was absolutely amazing Kurt!" Mr. Schuster gushed. "I didn't know you were studying classical voice."

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, that's kind of what I wanted to tell everyone. I have been taking vocal lessons this year to get ready for my auditions for college. And I decided to study classical voice instead of musical theater. But now my auditions are done and I've been accepted at four schools and chose one."

"Which schools?" Mike asked.

"I was accepted at Juilliard, NYU, Boston Conservatory and Peabody," Kurt said.

"That's in Baltimore," Finn told the group helpfully.

"And which one did you choose?" Tina asked with excitement.

"After visiting each of the schools and carefully considering all factors, I chose Peabody," Kurt said.

"I thought you had a hard-on for Broadway," Santana said. "What's changed?"

"While I still love musical theater, I think this is a better fit for me," Kurt said slowly. "The aria I just sang was written for a man, not a woman. There are parts for countertenors in opera and classical music that just aren't there in musical theater."

"That was for a man?" Rachel asked. "But… there were high Fs!"

"Six of them," Kurt agreed. "I know. Susan is pretty adamant that I sing them from my diaphragm and not my head, so I'm very aware of the high Fs."

"What did you sing?" Brittany asked. "I didn't understand any of the words."

Kurt smiled at her. "It's a song about a tree. And it's in Italian, so that's why you didn't understand the words."

"Oh, good," Brittany said with a smile. "I like trees."

After that, Mr. Schuster took over the rehearsal and they all got to work on their songs for Nationals. Kurt noticed that Rachel was rather subdued the entire practice and Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand when he noticed Kurt looking her way.

Once practice was over, Rachel lingered to catch Kurt and Blaine alone. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Kurt knew that Rachel was hurt, and he was sorry about that. "I tried a couple times, but then… I'm sorry. I should have said something sooner, but I really didn't want to tell anyone until I knew that I could actually do it. I started so late. Finn only found out a couple weeks ago. Other than that it was just Blaine and my dad and Carole."

Rachel nodded but was quiet when she asked, "What about New York? We were going to go together."

"You'll have Finn," Kurt pointed out. "And we can visit each other often. Baltimore is only a short train ride away."

"You could have chosen Juilliard," Rachel pointed out.

"He very nearly did," Blaine said.

"But in the end, Peabody is a better place for me," Kurt said. "It offers some things that Juilliard doesn't, like the ability to get a second, non-music, degree. The cost of living is more reasonable, as is the tuition. And I really loved the school when we went to visit."

"So, no NYADA," Rachel said despondently.

"Well, I am still going to audition," Kurt said. "Just to see what they say. And to keep my bestie company."

Rachel gave him a watery smile. "Thank you. And I'm so proud of you! I just wish…"

"I know," Kurt said.

They began to walk out of the room together, Kurt's arms around Blaine and Rachel as they made the trek to the parking lot.

"So, six high Fs," Rachel finally said as they reached the exit. "How long have you been able to do that?"

"Since forever," Kurt said unthinkingly.

Rachel stopped abruptly. "You threw that competition, didn't you!?"

"Um…." Kurt looked like a deer caught in headlights and Blaine chuckled.

"We are _so_ having a rematch," Rachel said. "And no throwing it this time!"

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Prom came with all of its insanity and Kurt and Blaine almost skipped, but at the last minute decided to attend. Kurt was rather glad he did, even if Blaine whined about his ungelled hair the entire night. Kurt actually liked the feel of his soft curls and he rather thought that if Blaine kept them either slightly longer or slightly shorter, he wouldn't look quite so much like Borat.

Nationals were amazing and the school's response to their win was completely unexpected. For a few brief days, they were able to bask in the glory of being champions instead of losers. No one had any doubt that their brief popularity would be long forgotten by September, but it was a really nice while it lasted for those who would be back next year, and a great way to end things for those who were graduating.

And then Rachel and Kurt got back their results from NYADA and Finn got back his results from Pace. Kurt wasn't feeling the pressure, since he had already accepted Peabody's offer. And Finn had gotten an acceptance letter from Hunter along with a small partial scholarship. But all of Rachel's hopes and dreams were centered squarely on that single envelope.

"I didn't get in," Finn said with a small resigned shrug. "But at least I have Hunter, right?"

"It's a great school," Kurt told him encouragingly. "I think you'll like it there better anyway. Smaller classes and all."

Kurt opened his next and smiled. "I didn't get in."

Rachel looked shocked. "After everything Madam Thibodaux said about your performance? How can that be right?"

Kurt gave her a small smile. "It's like I've been trying to tell you. There just isn't a place on Broadway for a voice like mine. She knows that and I know that. So they gave my place to somebody who actually has a chance to succeed."

Rachel nodded slowly but Kurt could still see the fear in her eyes. If Kurt, who had aced his audition hadn't gotten in, then how much of a chance did she have when she had blown her audition? Even if Madam Thibodaux had seen her performance at Nationals, there was no changing the fact that Rachel had choked under pressure.

"Open it," Finn said encouragingly and Rachel gave him a tremulous smile before ripping the envelope open.

"I got in," Rachel said softly. "I… I got in."

Finn and Kurt both wrapped her up in a hug. "Because you were meant to be on Broadway," Kurt said.

"You are a star," Finn agreed.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Kurt was rather glad that Finn and Rachel had backed off on the marriage plans after they were both accepted. Apparently knowing that they would be together in New York was enough for them now. Kurt on the other hand, was starting to get very antsy about leaving Blaine and striking out on his own in a couple months. As much time as the two of them spent together, it never seemed to be enough.

Graduation came and Kurt gave Finn the Ranchero. Now that he was actually going to New York, however, it would remain mostly unused. "I'll drive it when we're home for breaks. I am not selling that car. It's so awesome Kurt!"

Kurt got a new computer from his dad and Carole and Finn and Rachel gave him an Ikea gift card so that he could furnish his new apartment once he actually got it. Blaine's gift was the bedroom set that Kurt had been eyeing covetously on the Macy's Furniture website. It wouldn't be delivered until Kurt moved in, but it was ordered.

Kurt worked at the garage again that summer, and he and Blaine worked on two more project cars. Blaine spent three days a week volunteering at the soup kitchen where they had sung at Christmas. He said he felt like he had so much and he just wanted to give something back. Kurt loved him all the more for that.

Since Blaine turned eighteen in early July and his trust was released to him, he convinced Kurt that it was more economical to buy a place than it would be to rent. According to his lawyer, buying a home to live in while he went to school was covered in the terms of the trust. In truth, Blaine tried to convince Kurt to let him buy the house outright, but Kurt said that they were partners and refused. He put in his share of the money.

The two boys hired a realtor and began looking for a place in June. For the first weeks of their hunt, they relied on videos and pictures to sort through the potential places in their price range. Then, in mid-July, the two of them took a trip to Baltimore to see a couple places that the realtor was sure were right for them.

In the end, they settled on a small four level row house in Mount Vernon, one of the gay neighborhoods, not far from Peabody. Behind the house, rather than a garden, it had a carport big enough for three cars off the back alley. The interior was completely redone with hardwood floors and modern touches that made Kurt happy. The main floor was completely open and had a great kitchen that opened onto the back deck. The basement had a large utility and storage room as well as a finished room that would make a great exercise or media room. The second floor had an office and the master suite with a large bathroom and a walk in closet big enough to make Kurt cry for joy. The top floor had another two bedrooms and a guest bathroom. And, like most of the row houses in the area, they had a rooftop deck for entertaining. The neighborhood was great, with lots of little shops and restaurants in walking distance. They were only a couple blocks from a pretty great park, as well.

They put in a bid right away. And five hours later, their bid had been accepted. They would close on August 15th, giving them a little over a week to get the house ready before Blaine had to go back to Lima to start school.

Back in Lima, the two spent a lot of their time together shopping for and ordering furniture for the house. Kurt finally relented and let Blaine buy the living room furniture and Kurt was given free reign over the kitchen. It felt a little bit like playing house as they planned out each space and began ordering the furniture to be delivered on August 16th.

Before either of them knew it, August 13th had arrived. Burt and Carole planned a huge backyard barbecue to celebrate. Kurt would be leaving the next day, and then Finn and Rachel would leave the day after that. Hiram and LeRoy volunteered to get them settled in the small apartment the two rented in Turtle Bay so Burt and Carole would follow Kurt and Blaine to Baltimore after Finn left.

Everyone from New Directions was there, as well as a few of the Warblers, like Wes, David and Jeff. And of course, there was karaoke and lots of friendly rivalry. But then the party was over and most of the house went to bed, but Kurt stayed up and made two mugs of warm milk.

"Hey," Kurt said after giving a gentle knock at Finn's bedroom door.

"You're still up?" Finn asked. "Thought you'd be asleep by now. You've got a long drive tomorrow."

Kurt shrugged. "I know but… Well, I guess I just wanted to have one last brotherly chat."

Finn sipped at the mug of milk and gave Kurt a small smile. "I'm going to miss this. Rachel tries, but I don't think she can cook anywhere near as good as you. She scorched the milk the last time she tried to make warm milk."

Kurt grinned. "Maybe you can show her how to do it in the microwave. It's almost as good that way."

"Almost," Finn agreed. "I'm so excited about going, but I… I'm sad to be leaving too."

"I know," Kurt sighed. "It's a chance at a new life, but leaving some people behind isn't easy."

"Leaving my brother isn't easy," Finn said quietly.

"Yeah," Kurt said. He took another sip of his drink. "I never thought I wanted a brother."

"Me neither," Finn agreed. "But I'm glad I got you."

"Me too," Kurt said.

"I've already talked to Rachel about it and we're going to come visit one weekend in September," Finn said. "I want to see where you're living."

"You may have to sleep on an air mattress," Kurt said with a small laugh. "We haven't gotten furniture for the guest rooms yet. But you're welcome anytime."

"And you have to come up and visit us in October," Finn said. "Then we'll both be home for Thanksgiving and then Christmas. But after that, at least once a month we visit for a weekend either in New York or Baltimore."

Kurt grinned at that. "Deal."

Finn set his empty mug aside and pulled Kurt into a bone crushing hug. "I'm going to miss you, bro."

"I know," Kurt said and held on tight as he ignored the tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm going to miss you too."


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Five**

They stayed in Burt's apartment until the furniture was delivered and the paint was dry on the few walls Kurt insisted painting with accent colors. The rest of the house was a pleasantly neutral cream color, but with a blue accent in their bedroom and a red accent wall behind the fireplace in the living room, the rooms began to feel less empty even before they brought in the new furniture.

Kurt and Blaine had a lot of fun putting everything together with Burt and Carole's assistance. The four of them spent an afternoon at Ikea buying an organizing system for their walk in closet along with a lot of other items to make the house more livable. Kurt picked out rugs and prints to hang on the walls. They bought curtains and window shades. They bought items for the kitchen and for the guest room/office.

The next day, Burt and Blaine spent time putting everything together while Kurt and Carole organized the kitchen and then went for groceries. Burt surprised the boys when he came back from the hardware store one afternoon with a gas grill and some furniture for their rooftop deck loaded in the back of the Navigator. They had a cookout that evening and watched the sun set over the city.

"You can't really see Peabody from here because that building is in the way," Kurt told Carole. "But over that way is the Homewood campus. If you look real close, you can just make out the white clock tower on one of the buildings. And that's Druid Hill Park; it's absolutely huge and there are so many different things to do there. There's even a zoo and a conservatory."

"It's a lovely view," Carole said. "And a great house. You boys did very well."

The next day, they went to the campus bookstore and Kurt picked up the books he needed for his classes. He had already spoken to his advisor about taking a second degree in languages and he was scheduled to take placement tests for the three languages he had already studied: French, Italian and Spanish. He would need to prove proficiency in at least four languages to earn the degree, but he knew he could already pass French and it wouldn't take much to get up to speed in Italian or Spanish. He decided to study German, but not until his second year. He was going to go with Italian and Spanish for now.

Besides his two language and two music classes, his advisor had signed him up for two general education courses he would need for graduation. Since he had passed AP English with a 5, he didn't have to take freshman comp, but he would need a writing course to fulfill graduation requirements. Kurt chose a creative writing course in poetry. He also was signed up for a course in European history.

Six classes didn't seem like much, but Kurt knew that it was one more class than most students took in a semester. He would be busy, but busy was better than lonely.

Burt and Carole left for Ohio on Thursday, leaving Kurt and Blaine a couple days alone before Blaine had to drive back to Lima. They spent a lot of that time in bed together. But Kurt also made time to take Blaine clothes shopping.

"You need new clothes for school," Kurt insisted and Blaine complied willingly.

On their final night together, however, Blaine and Kurt were both quiet and rather desperate in their need to touch each other. After making love for the third time that evening, they were lying in their new bed just holding onto each other and trying to ignore the passage of time.

"You should sleep," Kurt finally told Blaine. "You have a long trip tomorrow."

"I'm just flying," Blaine sighed, though he would have to drive from the airport to Lima. He had dropped his car off in long term parking before they left. "I can sleep on the plane."

"We'll Skype every day," Kurt promised. "And you're coming down for Columbus Day weekend, right?"

"Yes," Blaine agreed. "And you'll be home for Thanksgiving."

"And I'll be home for almost a month at Christmas," Kurt said.

They were both silent for a few minutes, though they never loosened their hold on each other. "I finished my application for early decision to Johns Hopkins. As soon as I get all of my recommendations, I'll forward them. And then I'll know by December 15th if I was accepted."

"Who have you asked?" Kurt wondered.

"Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Jenkins from Dalton," Blaine listed the headmaster and the faculty advisor for the Warblers. "Mr. Schuster and Mrs. Bradley, the physics teacher, from McKinley. And the director of the soup kitchen."

"You should ask my dad," Kurt said. "He can use his official seal and you'll have the backing of a US congressman."

"Good idea," Blaine said. "And if it's personal and not a form letter, I think it will hold a lot more sway."

"Exactly," Kurt said. "What major did you decide on?"

"Two, actually," Blaine said. "Civil and Environmental Engineering. A lot of the courses overlap and if I take summer courses, I can still finish in four years."

"So, no music?" Kurt asked.

Blaine shrugged. "I might take a few as electives, but I doubt I'll have time for more than that."

"You'd better plan to sing to me on a regular basis," Kurt said. "I refuse to let your voice go to waste."

Blaine leaned over and kissed Kurt. "I'll sing to you every day if you want."

Kurt kissed him back and thus began their fourth round that night. And Blaine would have to sleep on the airplane the next day.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

The first day in Baltimore alone hit Kurt harder than he thought it would. He tried to keep busy, but it was tough. He tried reading ahead for his classes, but lost interest quickly. Then he called Mercedes, but she was busy. Rachel and Finn were busy too. Finally, Kurt started looking on the internet for a project car. He found one pretty quickly and by Sunday evening, he was the proud owner of a 1965 Ford Thunderbird Convertible. It was a real wreck and needed more work than any other car Kurt had worked on before, but he figured it would keep him busy when he wasn't working on school stuff. Besides, working on cars had always been kind of relaxing for him.

Kurt's tools were stored in the small shed out by the carport, so Monday morning he pulled on his overalls and began tearing the car apart. He was surprised when one of their neighbors came out to bring him iced tea around mid-morning. He looked that man over and knew that he was definitely gay. If nothing else gave it away, the pink flip flops and red toenail polish would.

"Thanks," Kurt said as he took a long drink of the cool drink. "I keep forgetting that it's still August."

"You're welcome," the man said. "I'm Jamie. My partner Ben and I live on the other side of the alley. The one with the black stained deck."

"I'm Kurt," Kurt said. "I just moved in last week."

"Just you?" Jamie asked. "I thought I saw a very handsome young man with you."

Kurt smiled. "You did. But he still has a year of high school before he graduates. He's hoping to come to Johns Hopkins next year. If he doesn't, though, he's applying to a few different schools in DC and he'll commute. We bought the house together."

"Oh my," Jamie said. "So young to be property owners. How did you manage that?"

Kurt grinned. "I worked my ass off rebuilding cars and Blaine was born into money. Between the two of us, we decided it was better to buy than rent. We already know we'll be here at least five years. Or I will. He'll be at least four years."

"For school," Jamie said. "Or are you a mechanic professionally?"

"I am a certified mechanic, but that's because my father owns a garage," Kurt said. "No, I'm studying Opera at Peabody. I just work on cars for relaxation. And to pass the time before classes start. Blaine starts his senior year tomorrow, but my classes don't start for a week."

"Well then, we'll just have to keep you busy," Jamie said. "Ben and I are having a cookout tomorrow night and you are coming. Don't even try to get out of it. Some of our other neighbors will be there and it will be a chance for you to get to know everyone. And this afternoon, I'm going to take you around the neighborhood and show you all the best places to go. You're still a baby gay, so you won't be able to get into all the clubs, but there are some that will look the other way."

"I…"

"I won't take no for an answer," Jamie said as he took Kurt's empty glass from his hand. "Just think of me as your fairy godfather. Be cleaned up and ready to go by two!"

With that, he headed back to the house with the black deck. Kurt watched him go for a moment and then chuckled. He went back to work with a smile on his face.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

"So I met two of our neighbors today," Kurt told Blaine on Skype that evening. "Jamie and Ben Charles. They live across the alley."

"Are they nice?" Blaine asked.

"Very," Kurt said. "I was working on the t-bird and Jamie brought over a glass of iced tea. Then he interrogated me and demanded that I let him take me on a tour of the neighborhood. I now know which bars will let me drink underage and which bakery has the best scones."

Blaine laughed at that. "Jamie sounds like a real character."

"He's Emmett from Queer as Folk," Kurt agreed. "Only blond and a little shorter than me."

"What does he do for a living if he has his afternoon free to play tour guide?" Blaine asked.

"He's a doctor," Kurt said with a laugh. "I never would have guessed but… He works for Johns Hopkins Hospital and is a Pediatric Orthopedist. His husband Ben is a professor at the university. He teaches Sociology. Anyway, Jamie works four twelve hour shifts a week so he was off today."

"Wow, smart neighbors," Blaine said.

"I've been invited to a barbecue at their house tomorrow night to meet more of the neighbors," Kurt said. "Did you know that almost half of the houses on our alley are owned by gay couples or families? I knew it was a gay friendly area, but I didn't expect it to be quite so friendly."

Blaine chuckled. "You meet them and then introduce me when I come down in October, okay?"

"How was the first day of school?" Kurt asked.

"Well, glee club's popularity was a fleeting aberration," Blaine said wryly. "But on the happier side of things, Wade transferred here and Rory's visa was renewed. So that gives us seven members and Mr. Schue put up a sign up sheet for auditions and we had nine people sign up already, most of them freshmen or sophomores."

"That's good," Kurt said. "That means fewer turnovers next year."

"Yeah," Blaine agreed and then sighed. "I miss you."

"I know," Kurt said. "I miss you too. Jamie kept asking questions about you and about us and it just… it was nice to talk about you, but it made me miss you even more."

"I know," Blaine said. "Tina and Artie kept asking about you too."

"Maybe I should fly home for Labor Day," Kurt said. "October seems very far away right now."

"You'll be busy with classes and assignments," Blaine said. "You need to give yourself time to get settled in before you start taking weekends away."

Kurt sighed. "I know. I just wish this year was over already."

"Me too," Blaine said. "I have to go. I have to be up for school tomorrow, unlike some."

Kurt gave him a small smile. "I love you."

"I love you too."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

For the next weeks, every night the two would call each other on Skype so they could recount their days. Sometimes they talked for hours and other times, they worked on homework together, like they used to do in Kurt's bedroom. Blaine had met Jamie over FaceTime and Kurt had met a couple of the new glee members the same way.

Kurt adored his music courses. The voice instructor was nothing like Susan, but he was very excited about Kurt's range and his natural talent. The theory course was a little more tedious, but mostly because Kurt had learned a lot of what they were teaching on his own.

Kurt was pleased to be placed in advanced Italian and Spanish courses, which meant that he would be able to show proficiency after only one semester and start on German in the spring. He had tested proficient enough in French to do an independent study, which he would also do in the spring. That meant that he could fulfill his language studies major requirements with a fifth language. He was debating between Japanese and Russian.

History was pretty similar to what he had learned at Dalton. He was even able to revamp a one of his old papers for his term paper. Writing poetry was definitely not a skill at which Kurt excelled, but he was good enough to get a good grade.

Blaine, on the other hand, was acing all of his classes and he and Artie were vying with each other for valedictorian already. He was taking AP calculus B—he had taken AP calculus A the year before and gotten a 5 on the test— AP English, AP History and AP Physics. If he got a 5 on each of the tests, which Kurt had no doubt he would, then he would have a full semester of credits before even starting college.

The drama in glee club was as bad as ever, though the names were different. Tina didn't throw diva fits, but Celia, one of the new girls, did. Blaine said she had the dramatic exit down to a tee. Mike and Tina were still dating, but Santana and Brittany had broken up. Artie tried to get her back, but that was a no go. Then Rory dropped Sugar to go after Brittany again and Sugar had gone after Artie. Brittany thought of Rory like a brother, so he basically was left without anyone. Brittany ended up getting together with Sam eventually.

There were three jocks in the new crop of kids and two Cheerios. The other three new kids were basically losers, but they were very talented. Kurt knew that Sectionals was late this year and he had already decided that he was going to do what he could to make it to Lima in time to see Blaine perform.

Finn did make a trip down in September, but Rachel stayed behind to work on a project for school. The two brothers were content to spend the time together, though, so it was fine. Burt came up on Saturday afternoon and they all went to one of the last home games the Orioles played that season. Kurt took Finn to a great crab place down on the harbor for dinner. But most of the time, they just hung out together. Finn didn't even complain about the air mattress.

After what seemed like forever, Blaine flew down for the long weekend in October. Kurt picked him up at the airport and they barely made it back to the house before jumping all over each other. They were naked in the front hall and were on their second round before making it to their bedroom.

They didn't come up for air until Saturday morning. Kurt happily held Blaine's hand as they walked to that great bakery with the best scones. Unsurprisingly, Kurt ran into a number of people he had met through Jamie and Ben. He took great pleasure in introducing Blaine, very proud of his boyfriend.

"Jamie and Ben are coming for dinner tonight," Kurt told Blaine on the way back to the house. "So we need to go to the grocer for a few things. I wish the farmers market was on Saturday, but we'll go there tomorrow, and then go to a concert that's part of the Free Baltimore Festival, if that's okay?"

"Anything you want," Blaine said. "I'm just happy to be together."

They picked up the items Kurt needed and then headed back to the house and back to bed. It was a chore to get up, get dressed and start dinner later that afternoon, but Kurt really wanted Blaine to feel like a part of his life in Baltimore, since it would soon be both of their life. So, Kurt set about preparing grilled salmon with steamed fall vegetables in a rich butter and garlic sauce. For dessert, he made a blackberry cobbler and had a quart of homemade cinnamon ice cream from a shop around the corner.

When Jamie and Ben arrived, Blaine let them in, since Kurt was busy in the kitchen. It was obvious that the couple were frequent visitors, though, since Jamie waved off Blaine's offer to take his coat and instead hung it up in the hall closet himself.

"I brought three bottles of that Riesling I was telling you about," Jamie called to Kurt. "It'll be perfect with the salmon."

"I haven't finished the wine you brought last time," Kurt complained.

"I'm trying to turn your boyfriend into a wine connoisseur," Jamie told Blaine.

"He's trying to turn me into a lush," Kurt shot back.

Blaine chuckled. He was amused by the fact that both of them seemed to willfully ignore the fact that Kurt was rather enjoying his education. On many nights, Blaine had seen Kurt enjoying a glass of whatever wine Jamie had introduced that week while they talked on Skype or just did homework.

The rest of dinner was a lively affair as Jamie wheedled information out of Blaine and did his best to make the younger couple blush. Eventually, Ben cajoled Blaine into singing something after Kurt mentioned that Blaine was the captain of their high school glee club.

"Do they make you sing?" Blaine wondered even as Kurt found a song on his iPhone for Blaine to sing.

"They do," Kurt said. He finally selected Cough Syrup. It was one of Kurt's favorite songs that Blaine sang. "I've sung both Broadway and classical for them. Jamie likes musicals and Ben is an opera fan. In fact, they want to take us both to the Kennedy Center when you come back in January."

"Sounds wonderful," Blaine agreed. "Okay, I guess I can give you a little free entertainment in return."

After Blaine sang, Kurt sang one of the fairy king Oberon's arias from _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. Then, Jamie and Ben helped clean up before heading home. They left a bottle and a half of wine behind.


	6. Chapter 6

**Part Six**

Thanksgiving came soon after midterms, and Kurt was grateful for the respite. Not only was he getting to see Blaine, but he needed a break from school. The work load wasn't impossible, in fact it wasn't much worse than Dalton, but it was heavier than he was used to and he needed a little break to recharge before the end of the semester.

Blaine picked him up at the airport on Wednesday in his sporty little Mini Cooper and they headed back to Lima. Before getting to Kurt's house, however, they stopped at a deserted spot that they had used for privacy before. They used the time to reacquaint themselves with the feel and taste of each other before starting up the car and continuing on their way.

"I hate to say that I'm glad that your parents decided to fly off to Europe without you," Kurt said. "But I am glad we don't have to split our time between two houses."

"Actually," Blaine said, "So am I. And my mother told me yesterday that they're going to visit Cooper for Christmas, so we're good for that holiday as well."

"Wait, they're going to visit your brother and didn't invite you?" Kurt asked angrily. "I'm starting to hate them more and more."

Blaine shrugged it off, though. "It might have been nice to see Cooper, but I'd much rather see you."

"That's not the point," Kurt sighed. "But I guess I'll just count myself lucky to have you."

They pulled up to the Hudson-Hummel house and Kurt and Blaine both brought their bags inside with them. Blaine would be staying with Kurt for the weekend. After a very long and embarrassing discussion with his father and Carole, they had agreed that the boys could share a room. Burt made it clear that he didn't want to see or hear anything more overt than a kiss, but the older generation would respect a closed door.

Burt and Carole were excited to see them both. Though Blaine still stopped over at least once a week for dinner, he wasn't around nearly as often as he had been the year before. The fact that they seemed to genuinely like having him around went a long way towards mitigating Blaine's parent's neglect. They had dinner together and then Finn got in late in the evening and there was another reunion.

Thanksgiving Day, the Berrys all came over to share the holiday. Kurt even made tofurkey and a couple other vegan dishes to make Rachel happy. Afterward, they played board games or watched football. Kurt made plans with Carole, Rachel and Blaine to get up early to catch the Black Friday sales. He gave a thought to years past when he would have gone out with Quinn and Mercedes but neither of them had come home for the holiday.

Blaine wasn't the best shopper around, but Carole and Rachel were even worse. They both complained about getting up at 4 in the morning and they were too tired to go on by noon. Kurt dropped them off and then headed for more stores with Blaine in tow. The two of them had decided to limit their gifts to each other to one a piece and use the rest of what they would normally spend to buy things for the house, so there was no need to worry about trying to hide what they were buying from each other. In fact, for the first time, they were buying all of their gifts together with their combined funds.

"We should just combine all of our assets," Blaine said when they finally stopped to eat lunch around 4 that afternoon. "Then we wouldn't have to worry about who put what on which card."

"You want to get a joint account?" Kurt asked with surprise.

Blaine shrugged. "Well, we already own a house together. And it would make paying for joint expenditures easier. We don't have to put everything in there, if you aren't comfortable with that yet. We could keep separate accounts and just put a certain amount in each month to cover our expenses."

"No," Kurt said. "If we're going to do this, I think we should do it. Jack, the guy three doors down, is a lawyer and he can help us set everything up. I'll add you to my investment accounts."

Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and squeezed. "I'd put you on my trust fund, but I can't. But I can deposit all the payments into our joint account."

"I just have one stipulation," Kurt said. "We each need one separate credit card for things like Christmas gifts."

"Agreed," Blaine said with a smile. "After all, I love surprises."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

The rest of the holiday weekend went faster than either Kurt or Blaine would have liked and soon Kurt had to fly back to Baltimore. It was great seeing Blaine, but saying goodbye got harder every time. Kurt could hardly believe that he was looking forward to coming back to Lima for the long Christmas holiday, but he refused to be away from Blaine when he wasn't in school. That last week before classes started had been torture, even if Jamie had tried to keep him busy. And Jamie had already agreed that he and Ben would look after the house while he was away.

So Kurt returned with a goal in mind: get back to Blaine as quickly as possible. And he still wanted to be home in time for sectionals. Blaine finally had a true solo in competition since Mr. Schuster didn't believe that any of the new kids were ready for that yet. When Kurt got back to school, he made arrangements with each of the professors whose classes interfered with his plan and arranged to either take the final early or do a project instead. Since he was currently at the top of each of his classes, not one professor had a problem with his plan.

The last week of November and the first two weeks of December were crazy busy for him. Not only did he have his regular assignments, but he also had the extra work he had signed up for to get done early. But, on the Thursday before Christmas, two days before the competition, Kurt turned in his last final and his last paper and went home to pack.

He wasn't surprised to find Jamie waiting for him. The older man followed Kurt inside and Kurt made dinner for the two of them. Ben was working late, since he had an evening class on Thursdays and would probably stay late to get a start on grading final exams. Thursday dinner had become a bit of a tradition for the two over the semester.

"So, I'm taking you to the airport at 10 tomorrow?" Jamie confirmed as he poured them each a glass of wine.

Kurt accepted the glass and took a sip before nodding. "My flight is at noon. That should get me home by dinner tomorrow night. My dad is picking me up."

"And Blaine still thinks you aren't coming until Tuesday, right?" Jamie said, already knowing the answer. "Then he should be very surprised to see you at the competition."

"That's the plan," Kurt said. "I thought about telling him, since being home without seeing him, even for one night, will be difficult. But he told me that they're having a last rehearsal tomorrow night, so he will be busy anyway."

"Did Jack get the paperwork ready for you?" Jamie asked. Kurt had told him of their plan to combine their assets and Jamie was very supportive. In fact, he told Kurt that he and Blaine were practically married already, so it wasn't that big of a deal. As Blaine said, they already shared debt, so they might as well share assets too.

"All finished and already in my satchel to take with me," Kurt confirmed as he threw together a stir fry. "They just need to be signed and notarized and then I'll fed ex them back to Jack to file."

Jamie watched Kurt work and shook his head. "I still don't understand how you make cooking look so easy. I can't even make toast without setting off the smoke detector."

"I'll hide our toaster before I leave," Kurt said dryly.

"Speaking of leaving," Jamie said. "Did you get the digital timer for the lights?"

"The one that changes every day," Kurt confirmed. "And you know the alarm code and have the spare key already."

"Any plants or animals I need to know about?" Jamie asked.

Kurt chuckled. "I think you'd already know it if I did." He set the plates of food onto the table and Jamie joined him.

"Well, then, nothing left to do but eat and pack," Jamie said as he lifted his glass. "I'm going to miss your cooking while you're gone."

"I'll only be gone a month," Kurt said. "And I know you'll call me, so don't get too maudlin."

"Moi?" Jamie asked innocently.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You. And I thought I could be dramatic."

"You are, dear boy," Jamie said. "You just aren't as dramatic as me. As remind you repeatedly, you are still just a baby gay."

"How could I forget," Kurt drawled.

"Be nice to me darling," Jamie said. "Or I won't give you the gift I've been waiting to give you."

"No fair," Kurt pouted. "You know how much I like gifts."

"Well this one isn't exactly new, but I think you'll like it anyway," Jamie said. "Remember how I told you I've been trying to convince Ben to redecorate?"

"Yes."

"Well, I finally succeeded," Jamie said. "And so you and Blaine will be the benefactor of my need to constantly redecorate."

"How so?" Kurt asked with a frown.

"We're redoing both guest rooms," Jamie said. "And I've already ordered new furniture, so you and Blaine will soon have furnished guest rooms. You know, for when the giant of a brother and his fiancé come visit. Or if you want friends to come. Or well, anyone else."

"You're… wow Jamie," Kurt said quietly. "I don't know what to say."

"Say thank you," Jamie said. "And don't get too excited; neither set is as nice as what you have in your bedroom and they are a few years old. But they are in good condition and the clean lines should go well with your décor."

Kurt leaned over and gave his friend a hug. "Thank you. Now our Christmas gift for you and Ben seems lame in comparison."

Jamie chuckled. "Oh, believe me, I plan on enjoying our tickets to Rent and Ben will love dinner at Genardi's. Your gift was perfect. Now let's clean up so I can help you pack a month's worth of clothes into a single suitcase."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Kurt stepped into the auditorium in Findlay and it was like stepping back in time. He could still remember the first two years they competed there. Only now, he would be in the audience while Blaine was up on stage. He walked to the side hall where all the performers would be waiting for the show to begin.

"Oh my god!" a familiar voice exclaimed and Kurt turned to face his friend. "Kurt! What are you doing here?"

"I just came to wish you guys luck," Kurt told Tina with a smile and accepted the tight hug she gave him.

"Larry, go get Blaine!" Tina ordered one of the other students nearby. "How are you? How is college? Blaine hardly tells us anything, though I know he talks to you every night. Wait, he didn't say you were coming."

"It was a surprise," Kurt offered. "I finished my exams early so I could support you guys."

"Kurt?" Blaine said as soon as he caught sight of the person standing with Tina. "I…"

Anything else he might have said was muffled by his face being buried in Kurt's neck as the two embraced. For long moments, they stood there just clinging to each other. Eventually, however, Tina cleared her throat, reminding the two boys that they were not alone and were, in fact, in a public hallway in Ohio. Right.

Blaine stepped back by didn't let go of Kurt completely. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be studying for exams?"

"Finished early so I could surprise you," Kurt said with a grin. "I didn't want to miss the competition."

Blaine hugged Kurt again and said, "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Kurt whispered. Then he slowly withdrew from Blaine's arms. "But right now, you need to go finish getting ready and I need to find a seat. We'll have lots of time after the competition."

"I can't wait," Blaine said with a grin.

"Break a leg, Baby," Kurt told him.

Tina had to practically drag Blaine back to their green room, but eventually, Kurt headed back to the lobby to grab a drink and a program before going to find the best seat. He ran into Mrs. Schuster, formerly Miss Pillsbury, and they chatted for a few minutes before she invited him to join her in the audience. She had save a few seats near where the team would be sitting during the competition.

Kurt had never realized how much talking and other distractions went on between the various competitors' performances. After the reform school girls performed—another crazy hair choreography thing that looked impressive but sounded pretty bad—there was a small group of kids from a local elementary school that did a small skit that they had obviously written themselves. Then a school that Kurt had never heard of performed and they were okay. They needed better choreography—or any choreography—but their vocals were good. They just didn't have any life to them. Next the organizers spoke a bit about the need for the performing arts in schools and then another elementary school group sang a song.

Finally, New Directions took the stage. Wade, or rather Unique, took the first solo and blew the audience away with her cover of Diana Ross' "I'm Coming Out." Blaine had told Kurt that Brittany had taken over the choreography and was training up one of the Cheerios to take over next year. But the difference in the dance style was clear. It was also clear that this group was much better dancers.

Tina, Artie and a girl Kurt had to assume was Calla did an amazing cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" as their ballad. Their harmonies were perfect and the simple choreography kept the audience focused on the music.

Finally, Blaine took center stage for an amazing performance of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." For a moment, Kurt could imagine him up there with the Warblers behind him, but in truth, his performance was much better than anything he had done while at Dalton. Blaine really had matured a lot. And Brittany had choreographed to Blaine's strengths, making the whole production fit together seamlessly. It wasn't Blaine and the Pips. No one was swaying and keeping time behind him. Instead, the whole group was pulled into the song.

And so was the audience. Everyone was on their feet and either singing or dancing along. It was a great set and the team did great with it. There was no doubt in Kurt's mind that they had nailed this one. And twenty minutes later, he was proven right.

Once the crowd began to file out, Kurt had a chance to get to the still celebrating team. He was greeted warmly by Mr. Schuster and his friends, but Blaine kept hold of Kurt's hand the entire time they talked. In the end, Kurt told Mr. Schuster that he was giving Blaine a ride back and they were able to break away from the group.

"Congratulations," Kurt told Blaine once they were alone in Burt's truck together. He leaned over and gave Blaine the kiss he had been longing to give since he saw him in that hallway. "You were wonderful."

"Tell me we don't have to go hang out with your family," Blaine said with a quiet desperation.

"We have to pick up your car," Kurt said. "And then we can go to my house. And don't worry, Fin's not back from New York yet and Dad and Carole are shopping in Cincinnati for the day. They won't be back until late."

"Thank god," Blaine groaned as he leant forward to Kiss Kurt again. "Let's go home, then."


	7. Chapter 7

**Part Seven**

Christmas at the Hudson-Hummel house was much different from any Christmas Blaine had ever experienced before, but that was to be expected. Blanche and Gerald Anderson were the type who hired decorators to trim their tree and threw lavish dinner parties to show off their wealth. There was little laughter in their home, even before Blaine came out.

So, going to cut down a Christmas tree together as a family, stringing popcorn and listening to carols on the radio while Burt swore at the tangles in the tree lights, and making cookies to give out to the neighbors for Christmas were all new experiences for Blaine. There was nothing perfect about the holiday. Carole burned the rolls for Christmas dinner. Finn knocked more than one ornament off the tree. Kurt made a bitch face over the ugly green sweater that Rachel and Finn bought for him. And Burt pouted when Kurt wouldn't let him have any of the bread pudding and made him eat fro-yo instead. But for all of that, it was the most perfect Christmas Blaine had ever had because it was real.

They spent some time shopping during the days after Christmas. Kurt always got gift cards so that he wouldn't make the bitch face at his dad, and Blaine's parents got him gift cards because they just didn't know him well enough to give him something personal. They also went to movies and spent time with their friends. Many of the old glee club members were home for the holidays, so Britt threw a small party to give them a chance to really catch up.

No one was really surprised to find out that Puck's pool cleaning business hadn't made it off the ground. They were surprised to hear that he got a regular gig singing in a popular bar in LA that led to him getting a recording contract with a small label. It wasn't he big time yet, but he was getting noticed and his manager was starting to set up gig in other cities to promote his first iTunes album.

Tina and Mike were still going strong, despite their separation. Apparently, she and Blaine spent a lot of time supporting each other when they started to miss their SO. She announced to the group that night that she had gotten back her early decision acceptance and would be joining Mike at Northwestern in September.

Santana was waiting tables in New York, but she had a weekly gig at a small jazz club in SoHo. Mercedes was still touring, so she didn't make it home, but Kurt updated everyone about her. Rachel wouldn't shut up about NYADA. Finn was quietly excited about the elementary education class he took that fall and was seriously considering changing his major. Quinn didn't say much about Yale other than she liked it there.

"What about you, Blaine?" Quinn asked. "Have you decided where you're going to school?"

Blaine smiled. "Actually yes. I was accepted for early decision at Johns Hopkins for Civil and Environmental Engineering. If that hadn't worked out, I was going to go to Georgetown or George Washington and commute from Baltimore."

"Why commute?" Santana asked. "You could just get your groove on with lady-face on the weekends."

Kurt gave her a bitch face. "Because we actually bought a house together and it would be sort of silly to live somewhere else."

"Wait," Artie said. "You guys bought a house? Why don't we know about this?"

Blaine shrugged. "It didn't really seem important."

"I knew," Rachel said. "But mostly because Finn told me."

"How the fuck can you guys own a house?" Puck asked.

"Kurt worked his ass off rebuilding cars for years," Finn said. "He saved a LOT of money. And Blaine's rich, right?"

"Not rich," Blaine said. "But well-off, even without my parents' support. I have a trust fund for school and part of what I can use it for is housing."

"I am so coming to mooch off you two," Santana said.

"Well, we have furniture for the guest rooms now, so I guess that would be okay," Kurt said. "But no more than five days. After that, I'm kicking you out."

"Wait," Blaine said. "We have furniture for the guest rooms? When did that happen?"

"Jamie and Ben gave us their old furniture for Christmas," Kurt said. "They're redoing both of their guest rooms."

"Wow," Blaine said with a smile. "That's really nice of them."

"So I don't have to sleep on the air mattress next time I come down?" Finn asked happily.

"Looks like," Blaine agreed.

"Wait, who are Jamie and Ben?" Rachel asked.

"They're these really cool old dudes that live across from Kurt and Blaine," Finn said. "Ben's got like the biggest TV ever made."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "They're our friends and neighbors. Jamie is a doctor and Ben is a professor at JHU. I'm actually pretty close with several of our neighbors and they all think Blaine is adorable."

"I'm not adorable," Blaine pouts. "I'm handsome and dashing."

"And you're especially adorable when you pout," Kurt said and then kissed Blaine's cheek.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

When Blaine went back to school after New Year's, Kurt spent his days either helping at the garage or reading ahead for his next semester. But they spent every evening together and it was almost painful when Kurt had to fly back to Maryland.

The plan was for Blaine to come visit over the President's day weekend, but Blaine, in retaliation for Kurt's surprise at Christmas, took off early from school in order to be in Baltimore in time for Valentine's Day. Jamie helped him set up a surprise dinner at a romantic restaurant and Kurt was very surprised and extremely happy to have a couple extra days with his partner.

Miraculously, their spring breaks actually fell at the same time, so they decided to take that week to do something fun together. Blaine's vote was for Disney World. Kurt's vote was for New York. Jamie suggested Paris and Ben said he thought they might like London. In the end, they went with Blaine's idea, just because Kurt really couldn't resist Blaine's puppy dog eyes. Also because he was going up to visit Finn and Rachel in a couple weeks anyway.

Two weeks after they got back from Florida, Blaine and the rest of New Directions had their regional competition. Kurt wished that he could be there, but Mrs. Schuster promised to have the AV club video the entire thing and send it to him. When the video file arrived, Kurt was glad that they had edited out the boring stuff between performances, but they left in all the schools and the award presentation. Since Blaine refused to tell Kurt the results, he didn't know if they had won until he saw the video.

"So, Nationals two years in a row," Kurt said over Skype that evening. "I'm so proud of you! You really killed with your solo."

"Thanks," Blaine said. "And the best part of Nationals is that they're in DC this year."

"Oh!" Kurt gasped. "That's wonderful! I'll get tickets for Jamie and Ben and I. And maybe Jack and Everett will want to come too… Maybe even Shelly and Linda."

"You can invite the whole block," Blaine said. "I'm just happy that I'll get to see you."

"Well, finals should be over by then anyway," Kurt said. "So I would have come wherever you were anyway. But, yeah, I'm glad it's here too."

Of course, nothing can go exactly right for New Directions. Kurt wasn't entirely surprised when Blaine called two weeks before the competition to tell him that Sue and Schuster had started their rivalry back up and Sue was once again trying to sabotage the glee club.

"She cancelled our hotel reservations," Blaine said. "And there are two separate conventions in DC, plus a political rally all on at the same time, so we can't get reservations now. Sugar's dad even tried pulling some strings but no go. There's not even anything available in Baltimore."

Kurt sighed. "Let me talk to the neighbors. Maybe we can get enough of them to agree to host and everyone can stay up here instead."

This is how Kurt ended up hosting a small gathering for all of their friends in the neighborhood. He explained the situation to them and finished by saying, "So what we need are volunteers to host high school kids for five nights."

"How many kids?" Jamie asked. Kurt had already talked to him, and he knew that he and Ben would take some of the kids.

"There are 16 kids and 2 chaperones," Kurt said. "The chaperones are married, so they'll stay together. And Blaine will obviously be with me. That leaves fifteen kids and the two adults. We'll take four here."

"Jamie and I will take another four," Ben said.

"That leaves us with 9 to house still," Kurt said.

Everett exchanged a look with Jack and then said, "We can take four."

"We've got bunk beds and a single in one room," Linda said. "We keep them for when the nieces and nephews stay over."

"And Trina and I can take two," Clive said. "What all will we need to do?"

"Well, they've got lunch and dinner planned out most nights," Kurt said. "And the two nights that aren't planned, Blaine and I will take care of. But if you could all make sure they get fed each morning, that would be really great. Blaine is sending me their itinerary and I'll pass it along to each of you, but I'm pretty sure they have to meet the bus by 8 each morning for either sightseeing or for the competition."

There were nods of agreement all around. "Oh, and the first night they're in town, Blaine and I will be hosting a cookout upstairs. You're all invited to come and meet your guests."

Kurt and Blaine spent some time sorting out who would stay with whom. Since Linda and Shelly's house was the only one with a first floor guest room, Artie, Rory and Wade would stay there. The rest of the group was split up according to personalities and behaviors. The jock that was most likely to cause trouble was assigned to room with his friend, but Mr. and Mrs. Schuster would be the other couple staying with Everett and Jack. Tina and Brittany would be with Blaine and Kurt, along with two of the younger girls. The last two boys went with Clive and Trina and the rest of the girls went to Jamie and Ben.

Kurt finished his last final the day before the team was set to arrive. Jamie had off the next day, so he spent some time helping Kurt shop and prepare enough food to feed an army. Around 6 that evening, the neighbors began to arrive and Kurt promptly put Jake in charge of the bar Jamie had stocked—with a note to keep any of the students away from it—and Ben in charge of the grill while Kurt, Jamie and Shelly began carrying everything up to the roof. Kurt was looking over the table laden with food when the bus pulled to a stop in front of their house.

Kurt rushed down three flights of stairs to get to Blaine, who was confidently letting everyone into the house and telling them to just stash their bags in the living room for now. Kurt met him at the bottom of the stairs and they hugged as though they hadn't seen each other in years. It felt like it had been that long to the two of them. Mr. Schuster cleared his throat and they reluctantly broke apart.

"Sorry," Kurt said with a faint blush. "The food and your hosts are all up on the roof. Artie, sorry, but we'll have to carry you up."

Artie shrugged. "I'm used to it."

Mr. Schuster enlisted the jocks to get Artie up that stairs and soon everyone was enjoying the food and getting to know each other. When the sun began to set over the city, Kurt turned on the strings of lights that he had put up for the occasion and lit several oil lamps so that the party could continue for a while longer. Eventually, however, it was time to hand out sleeping assignments. Mr. Schuster and the two jocks staying with him helped Artie get up the front steps at Shelly and Linda's before going on to Jack and Everett's.

Tina, Brittany, Calla and Jane helped Kurt and Blaine clean up a bit before Kurt showed them to their rooms.

"You have a really nice house, Kurt," Britt said.

Tina grinned. "It's like you two are already married."

Kurt flushed, but couldn't argue the point. Instead, he left them to get ready for bed and went to find Blaine. Since they hadn't yet tested the soundproofing of the walls, they had to be quiet, but the two were eager to get reacquainted anyway.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

The next day, Kurt and Jamie both went with them for their sightseeing excursion. They saw the monuments and drove past the White House. Then they spent some time at the Kennedy Center. Then they went to the Library of Congress. After dinner, they went for a ride around all the monuments, now lit up for the night.

The next day was rehearsals and blocking, so Kurt stayed home. But on Friday, he and Jamie drove down for the first round of competition. They had tickets for the finals, but the first round was more relaxed. Of course, they made it through the first round in the top ten, so on Saturday, all of the hosts carpooled down for the finals. When they announced the top three, Kurt's cheer was almost deafening, but all of his friends were on their feet cheering too.

Each of the top three groups was given the chance to perform one more song and Kurt's eyes filled with happy tears when Blaine took the front position to sing Train's "Drive By." He absolutely killed that song and the choreography and harmonies from the team were amazing. It was like they had held back the best for last. No one was surprised when New Directions were declared the winners for the second year in a row.

The team celebrated on a dinner cruise and Sugar's father, who was footing the bill for the extravagance, invited all the hosts to join them. Kurt was just glad that there was a small band on the boat and took advantage of the chance to dance with his boyfriend, something he hadn't done since prom the year before.

"Kurt Hummel, will you go to prom with me?" Blaine asked Kurt as they swayed to a slow song.

Kurt chuckled. "I'm pretty sure that was the plan."

"I know," Blaine said. "But I never asked properly."

"In that case, yes, I will go to prom with you Blaine Anderson," Kurt said happily.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

The team flew back the next day after a late brunch at Kurt and Blaine's. Kurt already missed Blaine, but he knew that their time apart was quickly drawing to a close. He had a few things to do, like deliver t-bird to the man who bought it, before he could pack his suitcases and fly to Ohio. Once again, Jamie had volunteered to look after the house. Kurt wouldn't be gone as long this time. It was only two weeks between the prom and graduation, and then Blaine would be coming back to Baltimore with him. They were both signed up for summer courses which would start a week after they returned. They would get two weeks off at the end of the summer and Burt had insisted that the entire family—including Blaine—take a vacation together. He rented a house on the Outer Banks for a week and they were all staying there.

Kurt flew up on Wednesday and Blaine picked him up from the airport in his Mini Cooper. "So, my parents called. They won't be back from Japan for another month."

Kurt frowned. "They aren't coming home for your graduation? Blaine, I know they are your parents, but I really do not like them. Really. In fact, I just want to scratch their eyes out on any given day."

Blaine smiled sadly at his boyfriend. "I know, love. But at least you and your parents are going to be there. And Wes and David said that they would come. So it won't be bad. Anyway, I'm too excited about prom to really care about my parents' neglect."

"I still can't believe that you and Tina decided to run for Prom King and Queen," Kurt muttered. "Will Mike be back in time?"

"He got back yesterday," Blaine said. "And the four of us are going out to dinner before prom and sharing a limo."

"Well, at least I know that Tina will look amazing in her dress," Kurt said. He had once again been called on for fashion advice by the girls of glee. Using FaceTime had almost been as good as being there for the shopping trip. "She has to look good in order to be worthy of being queen to the best looking boy at McKinley."

"You have our tuxes, right?" Blaine asked. Kurt had insisted on getting their tuxedos from DC.

"Yes, and I have two days to make sure yours is tailored properly, so be prepared for a fitting when we get home," Kurt said.

Burt and Carole found out that the Andersons were often overseas for months not long after Christmas and they had insisted the Blaine move in with them whenever they were gone. That meant that Blaine had been staying with them more often than not. Since Blaine's house was almost an hour away, it was a lot easier for him to get to and from school. But more than that, it felt good to have parental figures that actually cared enough to worry about him.

"Just promise not to jab me with needles," Blaine said.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part Eight**

Kurt wouldn't let Blaine his tux until Saturday, but it was truly worth the wait. Kurt had once again outdone himself. He was wearing a black houndstooth tuxedo jacket with silver buttons and a silver waistcoat. His shirt was white with a silver pinstripe that was barely visible. He was wearing a regular black tie tied in a wide knot and his shoes were elegant black loafers. While shockingly elegant, nothing about his outfit was very unique. His pants, however, were quite unique. They were the same silver material of his vest, with a black tuxedo stripe, but they were fitted to Kurt's legs almost like a second skin. In all, Kurt Hummel looked amazing and Blaine told him so.

Kurt accepted the praise graciously and then walked over to smooth down the lapel of Blaine's jacket. The tuxedo Kurt had picked for Blaine was a little more traditional, though not much. He was wearing a single button jacket made of a deep charcoal velvet and silk black lapels. His pants were black with the charcoal velvet repeated in the stripe. Kurt had given Blaine a black shirt with silver pinstripes to wear, informing him that he was to leave the collar loose.

"I brought you this to wear," Kurt said as he draped a silver silk scarf with charcoal pinstripes around Blaine's neck. "Now you look perfect."

Blaine had picked out matching boutonnieres for them. Rather than traditional flowers, Blaine had found a site online that made unique jewelry. They had not-quite-matching boutonnieres of sliver stems and leaves with onyx, silver pearl and diamond flowers. They were very modern in design and quite masculine, though they were technically brooches. And they each had matching cufflinks as well.

"Oh boys," Carole gushed. "You both look so handsome! We must have some pictures!"

For the next twenty minutes, Burt and Carole took pictures of the two boys while they waited for the limo to arrive. They made their escape with a promise to be back before 2 and went over to pick up Mike and Tina from Tina's house. They had planned ahead and left early enough to go to a rather nice restaurant down the highway rather than Breadstix with the rest of their classmates.

Once they arrived at the school, Blaine and Tina had to take their turns on stage providing the music, though most of the songs were sung by the underclassmen. That left Kurt and Blaine plenty of time to dance together. Amazingly, it seemed that many of the homophobes had graduated with Kurt, because no one said anything to them about dancing together. In fact, Kurt noticed that there were two other same-sex couples there that night. Blaine had said that more kids had come out, and Kurt knew of two who came out the end of his senior year, but seeing the evidence before them was definitely nice.

"You made a difference," Blaine said when he noticed Kurt watching the other two boys dancing. "Did I tell you that there are now twelve kids identifying themselves as LGBTQI in PFLAG? And the club did a presentation for a school assembly to educate the students and teachers? Mr. Schue and Coach Sylvester even come to the meetings. You started that."

"For purely selfish reasons," Kurt reminded him. "But I'm glad that it's grown. Last year, it was just you, me, Santana and Brittany with a few of our friends showing up when they felt like it."

"Well, Brittany took over this year and she somehow got people to come," Blaine said. "That's a legacy you can be proud of."

Kurt really wanted to kiss Blaine right then, but he knew that would be pushing things a little too far, so he settled for brushing his fingers over Blaine's lips and cheek.

The announcement for prom king and queen finally came around and Blaine and Tina went up on stage with the other candidates. Because Blaine was so charming and genuinely nice, it wasn't surprising that, despite being the gay kid who sings instead of a jock, his name was called as the winner. And Tina was just as nice and very pretty and talented, so it wasn't a surprise when she won either. Except that it was. For the first time, the prom royalty won based on a fair and friendly campaign. Kurt knew about Quinn and Santana's momentary insanity that had resulted in Rachel being crowned the year before, so this really was a first. Maybe Blaine was right and McKinley was changing. Maybe there was hope for the rest of Lima if these kids grew up and spread the word.

Maybe someday Kurt could come home and not feel like he had to hold back showing Blaine affection in public.

Maybe.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Graduation was pretty much the same as it had been the year before, only Blaine was honored as the co-valedictorian. Somehow, he and Artie had tied, which meant that Tina got the salutatorian, since her GPA was only .07 lower than theirs. Kurt was proud of all three of them. And he was glad that they chose to sing together rather than all three trying to give a long boring speech.

After graduation, everyone was invited over to the Hudson-Hummel house for a party. There would be other parties later, but everyone agreed that since Blaine would be leaving in just a few days, he should get first dibs on the party. Of course, Blaine didn't actually know he was having a party. Kurt, Burt and Carole neglected to inform him since they all knew that he would just have told them that he didn't need a fuss made.

So Blaine was completely surprised when Kurt brought him back to the house to find all of his friends there waiting to celebrate. He actually got tears in his eyes when Wes, David, Trent, Jeff and Nick all sang to him. And then Kurt had to sing to him as well. Finally, the food was served and Blaine was able to get out of the spotlight for a while.

Later, there were presents. Blaine tried to object, but Burt gave him a look that was reminiscent of Kurt's bitch face and Blaine caved. Thankfully, the New Directions kids all went in together for one gift, as did the ex-Warblers.

"Kurt said you didn't have a game console in Baltimore," Tina explained when Blaine opened the PS3. "I know you and Artie play all the time, so we all chipped in to make sure you can play at home."

"And we got you some essential games," Wes said as he handed over the gift from the Warblers. "There are a couple we know you like and a couple that Kurt likes, too. Plus we bought some that we like for when we come to visit."

Wes was at Georgetown—he had come up to see Kurt a couple times—and Trent was starting there this fall. David was at Princeton, but he vowed he would take the train down soon. Nick and Jeff were both out on the west coast, but they hoped to come visit over the summer sometime.

"Are we invited too?" Artie asked. He was going to Yale, but it wouldn't be too hard to take a train down. And Tina and Mike were planning to come in August for a long weekend before they went to Chicago.

"Anyone is welcome to visit," Kurt said with a grin. "Just call ahead first."

Burt and Carole bought Blaine a new computer, just like they had for Kurt and Finn. The significance was not lost on him and the two received hugs and tears as their thanks, since he was too choked up to actually speak.

There was a card from Blaine's parents, with the obligatory check inside, but Blaine didn't bother to even open it until after all of their friends had gone. Kurt looked over his shoulder and whistled. "That's a lot of money."

Blaine shrugged. "It's to assuage their guilt. But it will be useful. There's enough here to pay our bills for six months."

"We should put it into the investment fund," Kurt said. "We have enough in our accounts for now. And I put half of the money for the T-bird in our checking."

"Half?" Blaine asked.

Kurt flushed with guilt. "Well, I had a couple things I wanted to do with the rest of the money."

"Like?" Blaine asked.

"I bought a car lift," Kurt said. "It's a four post hydraulic lift that is powerful enough to lift the Nav. And then I hired a contractor to turn our carport into a garage. I couldn't work on the t-bird for almost 4 months this past winter because it was too cold."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Blaine said. "I wish you would have talked to me about it first though."

Kurt sighed. "I know. We're supposed to make these big decisions together. I just… I had the money and Jack knew a guy and it just sort of… happened."

Blaine kissed Kurt and nodded. "I know. Just… talk to me first next time. I wouldn't have said no. I know how much working on the cars relaxes you when you're stressed. And I know that it'll be a good thing to have a garage and heat to work in this winter."

"Sorry," Kurt said contritely. "I will next time. I promise."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Kurt and Blaine packed up all of Blaine's belongings at the Hudson-Hummel residence the next day. Then on Monday, they packed up everything at the Anderson house. Most of it was going to be shipped to Baltimore. The Mini didn't hold that much and it had seemed silly to bring the Nav up and then have to drive two cars back to Baltimore.

They had one last day with Carole and Burt on Tuesday before leaving for Baltimore on Wednesday. The nine hour trip wasn't bad with two of them together. When they finally got to Baltimore, Kurt was driving and he pulled up to their newly completed garage. A quick trip to Jamie and Ben's to get the new garage door openers, and they were pulling the Mini in between the Nav and the new lift. Along the back wall of the garage, there was a workbench, a pegboard and several shelves for Kurt's many and various tools to be stored.

"It's really great," Blaine said.

"And it has heat," Kurt said with a grin. "Come see what else I did."

They walked through the door at the back of the garage and Blaine stopped. The space between the carport and the house had previously been one giant slab of concrete with the shed taking up one end. Now, the concrete and shed were both gone and a small garden had been created, along with a small fountain where the shed once was. The center of the garden was paved with recycled bricks and furniture was set up around a small fire-table. Along the edges of the garden, there were newly planted shrubs and flowers.

"Jack's friend also does landscaping," Kurt said. "I thought it might be nice to have a little green space. I love the roof, but this is private and peaceful. Do you like it?"

"I love it," Blaine said and kissed Kurt's lips. "This was a good surprise."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

They spent the few days before summer classes started getting Blaine unpacked and doing fun things around the city. Once classes started, however, they quickly realized that the realities of living together were not the same as sharing a room when they got a chance for a few days. It wasn't all bad, but there were moments. Blaine had an awful habit of leaving his clothes lying around wherever he took them off and Kurt's need to constantly be doing something productive was rather exhausting for Blaine. After a few weeks of getting annoyed with each other, they finally sat down to talk it all out.

"I know that you aren't really used to looking after yourself," Kurt said patiently. "But I'm not your personal maid. I resent having to pick up your laundry or put your dirty dishes in the sink all the time. And I think we need to split up the chores because, while I kept this house clean by myself for almost a year, I was also the only one messing it up."

Blaine nodded slowly. "I'll try to be better about my clothes and the dishes. But… If we reworked the budget a little, I think we could afford to have someone come in and clean once a week. I'm not sure you realize, but I've never even learned how to clean anything."

Kurt sighed. "We'll look at the budget, but I'm not making any promises. And even if we do hire a cleaning person, there are some chores that will still fall on us."

"Like?"

"Laundry," Kurt listed. "Cooking, garbage, shopping…"

"I'm all over the garbage," Blaine said with a happy grin. "That I can do."

"Well, you're going to learn how to do the other stuff as well," Kurt said. "No, I take that back. I'll handle the laundry. We can split the cooking and shopping. You'll make dinner two nights a week and I'll take three nights and we can either go out or order in the other two nights."

"Sounds more than fair," Blaine said. "You'll show me how to cook when it's my turn?"

"Of course," Kurt agreed. "And I know I annoy you with my need to do stuff all the time, but… well, I'm not very good at just being lazy."

"I know," Blaine said. "And I think it's great that working on cars or baking or making things helps you relax. But I sometimes need to just sit around and do nothing or play a video game or veg in front of the TV."

Kurt sighed. "We haven't done anything with the room downstairs yet. The only thing in there is the treadmill and your weight machine. Maybe we should set that up as a media room. We can put in a TV and move the video games down there. You can hide in there when I'm on a baking spree or whatever and I'll try not to bother you, okay?"

"Sounds like a good plan," Blaine said with a grin. "See, this talking over things really works."

Kurt snorted with fond amusement and then began making out a schedule for cooking duties. Later, he would introduce Blaine to the concept of a shopping list and take him on his first grocery expedition.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

They did end up hiring a housecleaner. In truth, Kurt wasn't all that hard to convince since he hated cleaning. All those chemicals were horrible for his skin and nails. Jamie and Ben recommended the woman they used, who was also the woman Jake and Everett used and the woman Shelly and Linda used. She was very good at the weekly cleaning and scheduled four extra days a year to do any major cleaning, like the cleaning windows or getting rid of the grease buildup on the range hood or washing down walls.

And they did set up a media room in the basement for Blaine. Jake and Everett donated an old sofa that they were replacing and the rest of the furniture came from Ikea. They did need to get another TV, since Kurt still wanted to be able to watch movies while he baked or the news while he cooked dinner.

Their summer courses were fairly simple, since the school offered only basic courses in the summer. Blaine and Kurt both took two of their general education courses, and Kurt took another semester of German, while Blaine took his required writing course. Though they were only taking three classes each, the shortened semester made the classes more intensive and they found that it took a lot of time outside of class to get the work done.

Still, they had enough time to hunt a new junk car for Kurt to fix up and Blaine found some time to volunteer at the local gay youth center a few blocks away. By August, however, they were more than ready for a break.

First came the trip to the Outer Banks. Rachel and Finn took the train down to Baltimore and then they rode with Kurt and Blaine in the Nav. Burt and Carole were already at the house when the four of them arrived. Hiram and LeRoy arrived the next day. While Kurt wasn't a huge fan of the sun, he did have fun watching Finn and Blaine horse around from the safety of his beach umbrella. Each couple was assigned a night to cook dinner and the other two nights they all went out to eat. There were plenty of great restaurants in the area. One day Kurt dragged Blaine to tour light houses. Another day, they found a cute shopping center and walked along the raised wooden sidewalks between the stores.

It was a great week for everyone and they vowed to do it again. Kurt was actually surprised to find that he liked Hiram and LeRoy's strange personalities and he had truly missed Rachel, so he was happy to agree to come back again the next year.

Once back in Baltimore, Tina and Mike came for their visit. Tina had already met all of the neighbors, but Mike got to meet everyone and see the house that had impressed Tina so much. They did little touristy things, like going to see Charm City Cakes and visiting a house where Poe had once lived. But mostly they just had fun together.

On their last night in town, Mike and Blaine were in the basement playing video games while Kurt and Tina got dinner ready. "I really hope that Mike and I can be as good together as you two are. We aren't moving in together yet, but I get kind of nervous about when we do. I mean, we've made it through so much already, but we've never had to deal with each other's quirks and habits."

"Well, until this summer, neither had we," Kurt said. "We spent a few weeks really getting on each other's nerves until we figured out how to sit down and talk about the things that were annoying us."

"Like what?" Tina asked.

Kurt grinned. "Blaine grew up with housekeepers to pick up every stray sock. He never had to cook or do laundry or clean. So when we first moved in together, I ended up doing all the cleaning up after him. And I kept annoying him because I don't really do downtime. But we talked it out. Now we have a lady who comes in once a week to do the majority of the cleaning, and we have split the other chores. And we set up the basement as his lazy zone. Well, lazy other than when I'm using the treadmill in the mornings."

"Wow," Tina said. "It's great that you two could work things through like that."

"It's good that we have the space and resources to help us solve some of the issues," Kurt said. "But it isn't always a help. Sometimes it's the cause of fights, too. Like our frequently ignored budget. We have three years until I graduate and can get a job and two and years before Blaine gets his next trust fund. If we're going to survive until then, we have to actually watch how much we spend."

Tina looked around the house with a raised brow. "I'm sorry, but I don't exactly see a lot of budgeting here."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Believe me, we do. We didn't furnish the whole house ourselves. Friends have given us some of the furniture second hand and some things were gifts. We've used Ikea prudently to finish rooms, even though we both would much rather something of better quality. My clothing budget is half what it was in high school. And we've both cut back how much we spend on music and movies and things like that. We only eat out twice a week and we have cut back our coffee shop stops to once a week; we either make our own drinks here, or stick with the plain coffee they serve at school."

"But you own your own home before either of you are even twenty," Tina said. "And you have a cleaning lady."

"True," Kurt said with a shrug. "I'm not saying we aren't lucky, but we do have limitations. I know most kids aren't so lucky. Even our friends from Dalton, whose parents are loaded, are on stricter budgets than we are. But part of that is because we're doing this all ourselves. I mean, I earned every penny I brought into our relationship. And while Blaine didn't have to work for his, his family basically shoved him out the door with some cash in hand so they wouldn't have to deal with him. So we're doing the best that we can to make our lives what we want them to be."

"You are so grown up," Tina said. "In some ways I envy that but in others… I'm glad I've still got the chance to be a crazy college girl."

"Just don't be too crazy," Kurt said. "You and Mike could be end game if you work at it."

Tina nodded and gave Kurt a smile. "I know. And I intend to make sure it happens. But that doesn't preclude a drunken frat party or two."

"They aren't all they're cracked up to be," Kurt said. "Believe me."


	9. Chapter 9

**Part Nine**

Classes started back up and it didn't take long for Kurt to fall right back in to his old routines. The classes may have changed, but he was still taking two music classes and two language classes each semester. He was taking his third semester of German and was taking his first semester of Russian. On top of that, he had to take a science class and some sort of course to fulfill his Gen Ed requirement for social diversity. He and Blaine had signed up for LGBTQI studies together since Ben recommended the professor. Blaine's schedule was otherwise filled with science and math courses. He was taking a single music course, however; like Kurt, the introductory level course was too easy for Blaine, but it was necessary to be able to take more advanced courses later.

Kurt had made a few friends in the music department, but not many. He found that he enjoyed the company of their neighbors much more. Blaine, on the other hand, quickly found a circle of friends in the engineering school and had soon set up a weekly study group that met at their house. Kurt, who loved to play host, didn't object in the least. He actually liked most of the students who came by each week.

Like Kurt had told Tina, he really wasn't much into the college party scene, but he went with Blaine to a couple before Blaine decided that he preferred Kurt's version of socializing. A quiet dinner with Jamie and Ben or a night at a pub with Everett and Jack was more their style. Every once in a while, they might spend a couple hours at one of the clubs nearby, but mostly they stuck to quieter venues.

When Thanksgiving rolled around, the two of them decided to stay in Baltimore and invite Burt and Carole up for the holiday, since they were in DC. But then Finn and Rachel decided to take the train down to join them since her dads decided to take a cruise over the holiday. And while Finn had come down a few times and Kurt had been up to New York to see them, Rachel hadn't yet made the trip.

Kurt went a little crazy getting ready for their guests. He had the cleaning lady come in an extra day that week. He planned out every meal for the duration of the visit and changed it up three times before finally settling on a grocery list and sending Blaine out shopping. (Blaine was getting a lot better with grocery shopping and usually only came back with three or four items that weren't on the list. Since Rachel was still vegan and Kurt was still concerned for his father's health, Kurt had to get creative with his meal plans, but he was able to get some great ideas and recipes from Linda, since she and Shelly were vegan as well.

Rachel gushed over the house as soon as she walked through the front door. Blaine had gone to the station to pick her and Finn up and they arrived minutes after Burt and Carole.

"Finn told me that it was great, but I never expected anything this nice," Rachel admitted after taking the tour. Burt and Carole had followed along to see some of the changes the two had made since they had last been there.

"It's home," Kurt said with a shrug. "Now, I need to get back to the kitchen to finish dinner. We left Blaine and Finn alone with the food, which is never a good idea."

The rest of the weekend passed in a blur of family time. It was a perfect holiday. Friday was spent shopping. Then Saturday, Kurt and Blaine were happy to show everyone around their neighborhood and all of the places they liked to go. They even had all of the neighbors over for dinner on Saturday.

Once the holiday was over, however, Kurt was glad to have the house to themselves once again. "I'm kind of glad that we'll be in Ohio for Christmas instead of having everyone here. Not that it wasn't nice to see everyone, but that was a lot of work."

"It was," Blaine agreed. He was quiet for a moment before continuing, "I was thinking. What if we have our own Christmas here, just the two of us, and then drive up to Ohio for a few days."

Kurt bit his lip and considered that idea. On the one hand, it would be great to be able to share Christmas with Blaine. On the other, he really would miss being with his dad on Christmas morning. "Maybe another year. I mean, I love the thought, but I…"

"You want to be with your family," Blaine said quietly.

"I do," Kurt agreed. "All of my family. That includes you. We can have our private Christmas celebration before we leave, or after we come back. But I still really want to be with my dad on Christmas day. Is that okay?"

Blaine smiled. "It's more than okay. And you're right. We can have our own private celebration here before we go. We need to decorate."

Kurt groaned. December was already going to be busy enough. They both had finals to prepare for and Kurt was having his first recital in two weeks. They wouldn't be gone for a whole month like Kurt was last year, but they would have to pack for more than a week away. Add on to that Christmas shopping and Kurt wasn't sure how he was going to have time to decorate the house as well.

Blaine seemed to read Kurt's concerns and smiled. "We'll keep it simple and I'll help with everything. I just really want to have a tree to put our presents under. And maybe a few things around the living room. Okay?"

Kurt smiled. "Okay."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Finals ended on December 22nd and Kurt and Blaine decided to celebrate their private Christmas on December 23rd since they would be heading to Ohio on the 24th. Kurt and Blaine woke up early and Kurt made a special brunch for the two of them before they exchanged their gifts in front of the small tree they had brought home from the tree lot a few blocks away two weeks earlier. The gas fire was going and they shared kisses between opening presents. And then they made love in front of the fire place. It was a perfect Christmas, even if it was two days early.

The next morning, they loaded up Blaine's Mini and headed out. It was a long drive, but they wanted to save a little money as well as have room to bring back the gifts that they would receive. They snacked on goodies given to them by their friends in the neighborhood: cookies and quick breads and homemade trail mix. They passed the time talking and singing along to their iPod playlists.

They arrived at the Hudson-Hummel house late in the afternoon and just had time to unload the car before Carole called everyone to the table for dinner. The Berrys were once again in attendance and Kurt found that he was really starting to think of them as part of their extended family these days.

On Christmas morning, the three young men were up early for the gift exchange, acting more like kids than the young adults that they were. Once again, Kurt and Blaine had bought their gifts together. This year, however, they found that the gifts they received were mostly addressed to the two of them as well.

It wasn't until all of the other gifts had been given that Blaine looked at Burt and Burt grinned back at him. "Kiddo, I know you and Blaine exchanged gifts already, but I think Blaine has another gift for you."

Kurt looked at his partner with questioning eyes. "You do?"

"Yeah," Blaine said. "Something I needed your dad's help with."

While they were talking, Burt had gone to another room to get a box that looked like a case of paper. The lid was wrapped separately from the base of the box, so all Kurt would have to do was lift it off to see what was inside. When Burt put the box on Kurt's lap, it was a lot lighter than he had expected.

"Why is the box moving?" Kurt asked warily.

Blaine chuckled and said, "Take off the lid and find out."

Kurt shot a glare at his partner before doing just that. Inside, curled up in an old bath towel, was a small ball of fluff. When Kurt lifted the lid, the fluff lifted its head and green eyes stared back at him. The fluffy creature shifted into a sitting position and let out a plaintive "Meow."

"Oh my Gaga!" Kurt exclaimed in a soft voice that wouldn't startled the kitten. "You got me a kitten?"

"Yeah," Blaine said. "He's already box trained and weaned. He just needed a home. And a name."

Kurt carefully lifted the kitten from the box and held him up to his face. He was a soft gray color everywhere but his nose and paws; those were a dark charcoal. His fur was fluffy and long and so soft that Kurt thought he was softer than Kurt's favorite angora sweater.

"I think we should call him Charlie," Kurt said as he lowered the kitten to his lap. The Kitten purred contentedly as Kurt gently stroked him.

"Welcome to the family, Charlie," Carole said with a smile.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Charlie settled into their house and their lives rather quickly once they returned to Baltimore. In fact, he quickly made the house his domain. It actually took Kurt and Blaine longer to get used to having him around-often stalking through the house at all hours of the night-than it did for Charlie to get used to them.

For the three weeks of January before classes began, the young couple worked together on Kurt's latest project car. They already had a buyer lined up and Kurt wanted to get it finished before classes started. Three days before the beginning of term, they dropped off the car and accepted the promised check in return.

As they drove the Nav back home, Kurt turned to Blaine. "Sweetie, I kind of thought we could use the money from this one to splurge a little."

Blaine frowned. "You're the one always telling me that we have to stick to our budget."

"I know," Kurt said. "And we should stick to our budget. But the car income isn't really part of the budget. It usually goes into the investment fund and the dividends are part of the budget but we're doing a lot better with our investments this year, since we added in your parents' graduation money. Our quarterly payments have been up by almost 16% over what we expected and I've been redirecting that extra money back into the fund."

Kurt was the money person in their relationship. It wasn't that Blaine was bad with money, but he had just never really had to think about finances beyond spending what he was given. But he trusted Kurt.

"Okay, if you say we can afford to splurge, then I guess we can," Blaine finally said. "What did you have in mind?"

"You'll see," Kurt said cryptically.

Kurt was driving and Blaine realized that the Nav wasn't actually headed back to the house. They drove out of Baltimore, past the suburbs and into the country. Kurt finally pulled into the parking lot outside a large building that looked a bit like a factory.

"What is this?" Blaine asked.

"This is an outlet store," Kurt said. "For Baldwin Pianos."

Blaine's eyes got wide. "Seriously? We're getting a piano?"

Kurt shrugged. "If we can find one we both agree on and that will fit in our living room. We don't have much space, but I think we could fit in a baby grand. And since the prices here tend to be a lot better than they are in a retail shop, we can probably afford a baby grand."

Blaine pulled Kurt into his arms and kissed him repeatedly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Come on," Kurt said. "They're only open for a couple more hours and knowing you, it will take that long to find the right piano."

Blaine happily hopped out of the SUV and waited for Kurt. Then the two of them entered the store hand in hand. The store was actually more like a big warehouse filled with pianos of all shapes and sizes. Some of them had been damaged in some way and been rejected for their imperfections. Some were repossessed. Some had been leased out and returned after the terms of the lease expired.

After more than an hour of Blaine flitting from keyboard to keyboard to find the perfect sound, and Kurt sizing up the looks of each, they came to a decision, much to the relief of the saleswoman who had been trailing them. The piano was a baby grand with black finish. It was one that had been returned for imperfections. Kurt found the scratches on the piano's legs that had been the reason for the rejection and realized that he could easily fix it. A little wood putty, a little black lacquer and nobody would ever notice those few scratches.

Kurt took care of paying for the piano and arranging for it to be delivered the next day while Blaine continued to play, oblivious to everything going on around him. Kurt had to drag the man from the store so that they could close up for the evening.

Once back in the car, Blaine was quiet for a while before finally speaking. "I didn't realize just how much I miss playing. I mean, playing was just something that was like taking out the garbage. I had to practice, but it wasn't really something that I enjoyed particularly. But then... I've been here for over six months and haven't really had a chance to play at all and I... I missed it. A lot."

"I know," Kurt said quietly. "I know that music is more a part of you than you realize."

Blaine was silent for a minute. "You think I should switch majors?"

Kurt shrugged but kept his attention on the road. "I don't know. Only you can make that decision. But I do know that you need to find a way to keep music in your life. And I don't mean peripherally, like watching me perform. You need to sing and play and be a part of the music too."

"I have been considering changing majors," Blaine said. "I think I might go for mathematics instead of engineering. And maybe I'll do music too. Do you think I could be accepted into the music program?"

"Honey, after months of not playing anything, you are still better than most of the piano majors in our department, including the grad students," Kurt said. "And if you ever practiced your violin, I bet you could be better than most of those students, too."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Blaine spoke with his academic advisor when they returned to school and switched from engineering to mathematics pretty easily. It took a bit more work to get into Peabody. He had to go through the audition process, just like any other student. He had five weeks to prepare for his audition, and during those five weeks, it was a rare thing for Blaine to be home and there not be music coming from either the piano or his violin.

When the day of his audition finally came, Kurt went with him, just as Blaine had gone with Kurt for each of his auditions. He had to wait outside, but he could hear Blaine playing through the doors. To Kurt, he sounded perfect, but he knew that Blaine would come back out with criticisms. He didn't hold that note long enough or he rushed a legato section or something. Blaine was always his own worst critic.

"You were wonderful," Kurt praised as soon as Blaine emerged.

"I lost tempo on the coda," Blaine moaned. "They're never going to accept me now."

Unlike Kurt's audition, they didn't have to wait weeks to get a response. Blaine was already accepted at the university, the only question was if he was good enough to become a music major. The dean of the department, along with two other professors, had listened to his audition and was deliberating. Ten minutes after his performance, Blaine was called back into the room and Kurt went with him this time.

"Let me be perfectly honest with you Blaine," Dean Stanton said. "It would be a shame not to nurture talent like yours. In fact none of us can fathom why you didn't apply to be a music major to begin with. It is clear that you are not only gifted, but you also love to play. We would be honored to welcome you to Peabody."

Kurt held back a squeal of excitement for his partner but he needn't have bothered since Blaine gave out a shout for joy.


	10. Chapter 10

**Part Ten**

Blaine took extra music courses that summer to catch up with his class and that fall, he and Kurt participated in the recital together. Despite how content he had been with his before, Blaine found that adding music back into his life made everything ten times better. He still wasn't convinced that he wanted to make a career of performing, but he was thrilled to be playing again. Over the next semesters, he even took a few courses in voice and guitar to broaden his skills.

Kurt continued with his coursework, and time seemed to pass much quicker than either man could have anticipated. Burt was reelected to congress for his third term in the fall of Kurt's senior year. Finn and Rachel had finally decided to get married after graduation and were busy making plans. Their friends all seemed to be doing well in their chosen schools and often came to visit. David and Wes had both graduated. David went to on to Harvard law school and Wes had taken a job working for his father's business.

Kurt was already being recruited by several opera companies and knew he would be able to pick where he went after graduation. He had developed quite the reputation with his performances at various Peabody recitals.

It was as they were starting the spring semester of school that the two really began discussing what would happen after Kurt graduated. Blaine still had another year to go and Kurt didn't want to leave him.

"You can't just ignore the offers from anywhere that isn't Baltimore," Blaine said.

"Blaine, I'm not moving to Los Angeles or Chicago or San Francisco without you," Kurt insisted. "Besides, some of these east coast offers are really good. And I can negotiate for a one year contract and re-evaluate my options after you know where you want to go to grad school."

That was one thing that Blaine had finally decided. He was getting his teaching certification for Mathematics as a fallback plan, but he was pretty sure that he wanted to get his doctorate in music and teach. It would mean three more years in school, but he really loved music and he really loved sharing it with others. In the academic world, he could do both.

Blaine sighed. "Okay. Which offers are within commuting distance?"

"Well, Baltimore Concert Opera," Kurt said. "But that's mostly oratorio, and it lacks the drama I love so much." Blaine grinned at his partner. "But Lyric Opera of Baltimore does full productions and they are known for offering some cutting edge performances. Not as good as Lyric Chicago, but still really good."

"And outside of Baltimore?" Blaine asked.

Kurt hesitated. "Well, New York City Opera and Washington National Opera have both approached me. And the Opera Company of Philadelphia, but that one is pretty far down my list."

"And how do all of these rank nationally?" Blaine asked.

Kurt sighed. "Well, San Francisco, Chicago Lyric, Los Angeles, and Washington all rank in the top five. New York City Opera would be just below them."

"So the only company in the top five in the nation that hasn't made you an offer is the Metropolitan Opera?" Blaine asked with awe. "Jesus, Kurt."

Kurt shrugged. "They have currently have two very good countertenors."

Blaine shook his head at that. Sometime in the past four years, Kurt really had come to believe that he was gifted and now accepted that some of the best opera companies in the world would want him. It was quite a change from the boy who couldn't quite believe that Susan really thought he had potential.

"Neither of the Baltimore companies are ranked are they?" Blaine asked. Kurt shook his head. "Then I think you really need to consider either Washington or New York. You could easily commute to DC. The commute to New York would be harder, but I could come up for weekends or something."

Kurt sighed. "Honestly, I think Washington is the right place. And if I have late nights and miss the last train or something, I could stay with Dad. If you decide to go to grad school at Juilliard, I can think about New York then. I don't think I'm ready to let go of our home here, yet."

"Well, you'll have been making the commute for a few months before I have to decide about grad school, so we can see how you feel about everything then," Blaine said. "And I'm not sure I'm ready to give up our home here either. I've actually been thinking I'd like to do my doctorate here, but we have to make those decisions together and it can wait for a while."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Blaine talked to his parents three or four times a year over the phone, but he hadn't actually seen either of them since before he graduated from high school. That was why it was such a shock to get a call from his mother telling him that they were in Washington and would be taking the train up to see him that evening.

It was a Saturday, so neither of them had classes, but Blaine had spent much of his day studying for finals, and Kurt was working on the latest project car to get rid of the jitters before his final recital as a college student. They were both a mess and there was little food in the house.

When Blaine told Kurt, the other man's eyes had widened in shock before running into the house to organize everything. By the time Blaine caught up with him in the kitchen, Kurt had a grocery list ready. "You go pick up the food while I shower and get changed. Then I'll cook while you clean up. I cannot believe your parents gave us three hours' notice that they were coming for dinner."

Blaine winced, but had to agree. "At least the house is clean."

Blaine backed away from the glare Kurt was sending his way. He took the list and headed out to his Mini. He noted that list consisted mainly of salmon and fresh vegetables. He had to hand it to Kurt; it would be a simple meal to prepare, but it would also be tasty enough to impress almost anyone. On the way back to the house, Blaine stopped at their favorite bakery and picked up a mocha raspberry torte for dessert.

Kurt came downstairs as Blaine was putting the food away. He walked up behind his partner and wrapped his arms around his waist. "I'm sorry for being pissy with you earlier. It isn't your fault that they gave us no notice."

Blaine turned in Kurt's arms and gave him a warm kiss. "You are forgiven. I just wish I knew why they're coming. They wouldn't just show up for no reason."

"I guess we'll find out when they get here," Kurt said and stepped out of Blaine's arms. "Now, go get cleaned up while I get dinner started."

"I picked up your favorite torte for dessert," Blaine told him as he headed for the stairs. "And I picked up a couple bottles of white wine that Jamie approved over the phone."

Kurt smiled at him. "I do love you."

"Of course you do," Blaine said with a cheeky grin before disappearing upstairs.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

The Andersons took a cab over from the train station and arrived just as Blaine returned downstairs from his shower. He peeked into the kitchen and noted that Kurt seemed to have everything under control before heading to the front door. With a deep breath, he opened the door.

"Blaine! Look at you!" Blaine's mother was much more effusive than he could ever recall her being. "You're so grown up!"

"Well it has been four years," Blaine said with a hint of censure. He let them inside and dutifully accepted his mother's brief hug and his father's handshake. Then the three of them stood in the foyer just looking at each other uncomfortably.

"Mr. and Mrs. Anderson," Kurt said as he came to join them. "Won't you come in and make yourselves comfortable? Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes. In the meantime, Blaine, sweetie, would you mind taking care of the drinks?"

Blaine was grateful for Kurt's interference. For the next few minutes, he made himself busy opening the wine and pouring for everyone. Kurt, meanwhile, kept up a steady stream of small talk while he worked in the kitchen to plate up their meals. Once they were all seated, Blaine turned to his parents.

"So, what brings you to visit after four years?"

"Don't be petulant," Mr. Anderson scolded. "You know that I'm a very busy man."

"You boys seem to be very comfortable here," Mrs. Anderson said before Blaine could retort and start an argument.

"We are very happy here," Kurt agreed.

The two of them kept the conversation going over dinner as Kurt filled Mrs. Anderson in on the most recent changes in their lives and told her about his decision to accept a contract with the Washington National Opera. It wasn't until Blaine had served dessert and coffee that Mr. Anderson spoke again.

"Blaine, there was a reason your mother and I decided to stop in this evening," Mr. Anderson said. "I have recently been offered the position of CEO for a company based in Germany and have decided to accept."

"We're closing up the house in Ohio," Mrs. Anderson said. "And we thought you might have left some things when you moved out."

Blaine blinked. "I took everything." He wasn't sure how they could not know that. His bedroom had been completely empty when he had left Ohio. He had even gone through some of the old boxes in the basement for any mementos that might have been mixed in with Cooper's stuff. There was nothing left in that house that belonged to him.

"Oh," Mrs. Anderson said. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Blaine said.

"Well, I was going to offer you the piano, but..." she trailed off.

"Kurt and I bought our piano two years ago," Blaine said. "We don't really have room for a grand piano here, anyway." Though if he was being honest, Blaine would love to have that piano. It was the one he had learned to play on and it was a beautiful instrument.

"Perhaps you could store it until you get a bigger place?" his mother suggested.

"We could do that," Kurt said as he took Blaine's hand. He knew his partner enough to know that he wanted the piano. "We don't know where we're going to end up in the next several years, but it wouldn't cost much to rent a storage unit for now."

"Then I'll make the arrangements," Mrs. Anderson said with a smile.

"When are you making the move?" Blaine asked.

"Three weeks," Mr. Anderson said. "I'm not certain when we'll be back in the country. But you seem to be doing well. You certainly don't need your parents anymore."

Blaine let out a scornful huff. "Yeah, I'm all grown up."

"And with your final inheritance released to you last year, you should be financially sound," Mr. Anderson continued as though Blaine hadn't spoken.

"Kurt takes care of all of our finances," Blaine said with a shrug. "We were fine even before that last inheritance was released."

Mr. Anderson frowned. "You let him handle your money?"

"Our money," Blaine said firmly. "We're partners. And I'll have you know that Kurt has increased our net worth every year for the four years he's been handling our money, despite paying for college and living expenses and not having any regular source of income. And Kurt has contributed more than I have to our combined accounts if you discount the final inheritance."

In truth, Kurt had been floored when Blaine showed him the accounting from his grandmother's estate lawyer detailing the specifics of his inheritance. The majority of the gift was in the form of stocks and bonds that were worth more than ten times their current portfolio. There were also a number of real estate investments in New York and Ohio that brought in regular income.

Mr. Anderson looked slightly mollified by Blaine's defense, but still not entirely comfortable with the thought that Kurt and Blaine were in essence married, even if they hadn't had a wedding yet.

"Well, it's good that you boys look after each other," Mrs. Anderson said diplomatically. "We really should get going. We still have to take the train back to DC tonight and your father has a breakfast meeting in the morning."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

The elder Andersons took their leave and Kurt and Blaine worked together to clean up from dinner. Blaine was unusually quiet as they worked, and Kurt left his to his thoughts. It wasn't until they were getting ready for bed that Kurt broke the silence.

"Well, if nothing else, your parents' visit took my mind off the recital tomorrow," Kurt said wryly as he turned down the covers on their bed.

Blaine laughed at that, but it was halfhearted. "I feel like I just got the final brush off. I mean, I know they haven't really been a part of my life for a while now, but... this seems so final. Like they figure since I got grandmother's money, they don't have to pretend to worry about me anymore."

"I don't think they pretend," Kurt said carefully. "I think they really do care. They just..."

"They just don't know what the hell to do with their gay son," Blaine sighed. "I know. It's been like this since before I ever went to Dalton. The only time I ever saw them then was on holidays that happened to coincide with my father's work schedule. Half the time, I went to Wes or David's for breaks. And then I lived with your parents more often than not while I was at McKinley. And now... it's been almost four fucking years, Kurt. I know they love me, they just don't want to be around me."

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and held him tightly. "You have me and you have a family that loves you unconditionally. They may not be related by blood, but you know that there are plenty of people who adore you and would do anything for you."

Blaine closed his eyes and buried his face in Kurt's neck. "I'm so fucking lucky to have you. What would I do without you?"

"Lucky for you, you won't ever have to find out," Kurt said.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Kurt started rehearsals down in DC over the summer while Blaine took summer courses. They still took a week off in August to go to the outer banks with their family, as they had every summer since Blaine graduated. Surprisingly, Kurt wasn't required to be in DC every day. The company put on several operas during the course of the season, and those operas were often overlapping, so it was rare for a performer to be in every production. In fact, Kurt was cast in four of the six operas that first season and generally had rehearsals, either individually with the vocal coach or with the rest of the cast, three days a week. He rarely performed more than three times in a week, and they entire company pretty much shut down in January and February to prepare for the second half of the season.

But just because his schedule was lighter than Kurt expected didn't mean he wasn't very busy. He spent hours every day he wasn't at rehearsals learning and practicing his roles. He was also often asked to do special appearances for the company at community events. If it was an evening function, he usually brought Blaine with him.

Blaine's final year of undergrad work went a lot faster than he had expected. Between supporting Kurt, working on his final recitals and applying to grad schools, he was constantly busy.

In February, he had auditions for Peabody and Juilliard. He knew that Kurt was interested in staying in Baltimore, but New York would be his second choice, so Blaine concentrated his efforts on those two schools. And since Kurt was off in January, the two of them pretty much spent that whole month preparing for Blaine's auditions.

And then in March, Blaine got acceptance letters from both schools.

"Congratulations, Sweetie!" Kurt gushed as soon as they had read both letters. "Have you thought about which you would prefer?"

"I honestly don't know," Blaine said. "I mean, we always talked about New York someday, and Juilliard really is the best. Plus, they have a three year doctoral program. If I stay with Peabody, I'll have to do two years of masters and then two years for the doctorate. But we wouldn't have to move."

"Well, we can do whatever you want," Kurt told him. "I can get work in either city."

Blaine looked at his partner. "Have you been getting calls from NYC Opera again?"

"Always," Kurt said with a roll of his eyes. "But that's not what I meant. I got a call from the Met. One of their countertenors has accepted a contract in Paris for next season, so they've got a spot open. They want me."

"Kurt! That's amazing!" Blaine said as he hugged his partner. "So, you think maybe this is a good time to make the move?"

"Well, I'll miss our friends here, but yeah, I think now would be a good time to go," Kurt admitted. "But if you want to stay here, we can."

"No, I want to do the faster track," Blaine said. "And we've both dreamed of New York for a long time. Besides, who know when the next time the Met will have an opening? I think this is the right choice for both of us."


	11. Chapter 11

**Part Eleven**

Kurt had a bit more free time than Blaine, so he took on the majority of the responsibility for their move. Blaine sent in his acceptance to Juilliard and Kurt gave notice to Washington National and accepted the Met's offer. Kurt spent hours each evening he wasn't performing going over potential apartments in Manhattan. Then he and Blaine took a weekend in April to view a few of the places and finally chose one they both loved.

Blaine graduated in May. Burt, Carole, Finn, Rachel, David and Wes all came for celebration. They didn't have a huge party, but they did go to dinner at one of the best restaurants in Baltimore. The Andersons sent another card with another check.

Once graduation was over, Kurt and Blaine put all their effort into packing up the house and getting ready for the move. Their house sold quickly so they were limited in how long they had to get everything ready. Selling their cars was harder, but they got good prices for both of them. And then the day of the move came and the moving company emptied their home.

They spent the night with Jamie and Ben, but went back early to gather the last few items from the house. Charlie was in his carrier and they only had a few suitcases and a box of Charlie's supplies left in the foyer when Jamie and Ben came to say goodbye.

"I am going to miss you so much," Jamie cried as he hugged Kurt.

"You'll love the new owners," Kurt predicted. "They seemed really great when we met them. And Ben already promised that he was going to bring you up for a visit this fall."

"Not the same at all," Jamie said tearfully. "But I'm so proud of both of you. You came to me as baby gays and now look at you! All grown up and off to the big bad city."

Kurt hugged Jamie again. "I'm going to miss being your baby gay."

Burt and Carole drove up from DC to drive them. They pulled up in front of the house and Jamie and Kurt were forced to say their final farewells. Charlie was not exactly happy about being locked in his carrier, but settled down when Burt glared at him. Blaine and Ben loaded the suitcases and then they were waving goodbye as the SUV drove away.

The trip was long, mostly because New Jersey traffic was a bitch, but eventually, they made it into Manhattan. Their apartment was in the Upper West Side, only a block from Central Park, and five blocks from Lincoln Center. Since Juilliard was right next door to Lincoln Center, the location was great for both of them.

They didn't have a penthouse apartment, but they did have a great view of the park and the Hudson. Their building was rather small and only had two apartments on their floor, and the surrounding buildings were only eight stories, versus their fifteenth floor apartment. They even had a terrace that ran the length of the building's front.

The interior of the apartment was very modern and chic. Not that they had any time to appreciate that fact once the movers arrived. They were all too busy directing the move. The good thing about this apartment was the fact that there was plenty of room in the living room for the grand piano. Plus, there was a study which Kurt and Blaine had already agreed to make the music room and it was large enough for the baby grand.

In addition to the master suite, they had two guest bedrooms, just like at their old house. This place actually had an even larger closet, much to Kurt's delight. What it didn't have was media room where Blaine could vegetate away from Kurt.

"You could set up the extra TV in one of the guest rooms," Burt suggested when Kurt brought up the topic.

"Not a bad idea," Blaine agreed with a nod. "At least for now."

One of Kurt's favorite things about the apartment was the fact that they had their own utility room with washer and dryer, so they wouldn't have to lug their clothes to a laundromat. Many of the places they had seen didn't come with that luxury. He and Blaine had agreed that they could give up the media room for a washer and dryer. And since the building had a gym, they didn't need to keep either the treadmill or Blaine's weights.

Once the movers were finished, they were left with boxes everywhere, but at least they had beds to sleep in and a place to eat the pizza that Blaine had delivered for dinner. After eating, Kurt and Carole went to work in the kitchen and Blaine and Burt started looking for the box with their bed linens so that they could make the beds.

Charlie, who was still rather upset with the whole carrier thing, had been hiding since Blaine let him out. Eventually, however, he came out to eat the food Kurt set out for him. Then he disappeared again.

Carole and Burt stayed for three days to help them unpack before they had to get back to DC. Burt only had a couple weeks left before congress finished up for the summer. They would see Kurt and Blaine soon enough, though, since Finn and Rachel's wedding was in less than a month. They were having it in Lima, since both of their families were from there, plus most of their friends would be home for the summer.

All of their McKinley friends had graduated from college by then. At least the ones who had gone to college. Several of the ones who graduated with Kurt had taken five years to graduate. A few of them had gotten jobs in their field after graduating. Others were starting graduate school, like Artie. But they had all promised to be in Lima for the wedding.

Several of their friends had ended up in New York in the end. Santana was still struggling to get her singing career off the ground, but she had eventually enrolled at NYU and was only a year from graduation. Brittany had moved in with Santana after she graduated, and the two of them had quickly hooked back up and were quite happy together. Tina and Mike hadn't made it through college together, and when she graduated with a degree in theater management, she took a job with a playhouse in New York. There was Finn and Rachel, of course. And Artie was going to grad-school at Columbia.

Then there was David and Wes. David had finished law school and was looking for a job with a law firm in New York. Wes was still working for his father's company, but had requested a transfer to the New York office so that he and David could get a place together. Blaine teased the two that they just couldn't stand to be away from his awesomeness. Kurt, on the other hand, thought that they were still a little too close to be "just friends" no matter how many times they claimed to be straight. But it was nice to have them close by.

Finn had been one of the ones that took five years to graduate, mostly because he found that if he took fewer courses in a semester, he actually got better grades. He had recently gotten a teaching job at a private elementary school near their apartment in Turtle Bay. Rachel had graduated on time and had gotten a few small roles in off-Broadway productions, but she was still waiting for her big break.

Once Kurt and Blaine had gotten the apartment unpacked, they started inviting their friends over for dinner. Providentially, Tina, David and Wes happened to end up coming to dinner on the same night. Blaine, of course, accused Kurt of trying to play matchmaker.

"I did no such thing," Kurt denied. "I didn't even know you had invited Wes and David over when I invited Tina. But I do think she could make a good match with either of them. David is fun and funny and Wes is smart and reliable."

"Just don't push anything," Blaine warned. "It could blow up in our faces."

"I won't push," Kurt claimed.

And he didn't push. He didn't have to. Wes and David were falling all over themselves as soon as they met Tina. It was pretty obvious that Tina found them both pretty amusing, especially when they started to thumb wrestle for the right to ask her out first... with her sitting right there.

"Okay," Tina said when their best two out of three was about to become best three out of five. "Here's what we're going to do. We'll all hang out together on Friday night. We'll go see Brittany's dance recital and then go for dinner after. And then, I'll decide who I want to date, or if I want to just be friends with both of you. Deal?"

Wes looked like he was plotting as he nodded. David, on the other hand was pouting, but he agreed too.

That was on Sunday. On Friday afternoon, Tina called Kurt and Blaine.

"Oh my god, your friends are insane," Tina complained over speakerphone. "Wes sent me flowers on Monday, so Tuesday David had to send a bigger bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates. Then Wes sends a basket of mini-muffins. Then David sends a cookie bouquet. Today, I got a metro card from Wes and a spa certificate from David."

Blaine chuckled. "You're the one who gave them five days to fight for you. You should have just chosen one on Sunday and saved yourself the insanity."

"I'm afraid of what they'll do tonight," Tina admitted. "I do not want to be embarrassed in public."

"I wish we could help but we have dinner plans with Artie and his girlfriend."

"I didn't know Artie was dating anyone," Tina said.

"They've been together for more than a year now," Blaine said. "They met at Yale. She's looking for work in the city but hasn't found anything in her field yet. She's working at a bookstore right now."

"They live together though," Kurt said. "I'm sure you'll meet her at the wedding in two weeks."

"Well I better go get ready for the insane twins," Tina said.

After she hung up Kurt and Blaine shared a look.

"I'm putting my money on Wes," Kurt said with a smirk.

"No way," Blaine replied. "She'll definitely pick David."

"Put your money where your mouth is, hot shot," Kurt taunted.

**BKBKBKBKBK**

They didn't get an update on the date until late Sunday evening.

"Well, it went better than I had feared," Tina hedged. "They didn't do anything too embarrassing. We went to a karaoke bar after dinner and they took turns singing."

"Oh god," Blaine groaned. "Don't tell me. Wes sang 'Don't You Want me Baby' and David sang 'In Your Eyes'?"

Tina giggled. "How did you guess?"

"Those are their go to songs when they want to impress a girl," Kurt said. "They were using those songs when I was at Dalton."

"Anyway, they were both gentlemen," Tina said. "And they didn't spend the night putting each other down, which I was half expecting. In fact, after a little bit of self-promotion at dinner, they actually talked each other up. While Wes was singing, David told me all kinds of reasons I should pick Wes and then when David was singing, Wes did the same."

"They're best friends," Blaine said. "They might want to date you, but they want their friend to be happy even more."

"Yeah, I kinda figured," Tina said.

"So, who did you pick?" Kurt asked.

"Wes," Tina said. "In the end, we just have more in common. And I don't just mean the Asian thing, though there is that. We both like the same kind of books and plays. He's even read some of the more obscure Goth novels I used to read in high school. He's agreed to be my date for the wedding. And we went to dinner on Saturday night. It was really good."

"How'd David take it?" Blaine asked.

"He seemed fine with it," Tina said. "Then again, I doubt he would say anything to me if he wasn't. But Wes seemed to think he was okay with it, too."

After they hung up, Kurt turned to Blaine with an evil grin. "I win."

Blaine sighed. "I'll make the appointment for a couple's day at the spa."

"Don't look like I'm torturing you," Kurt said. "You love when I give you facials at home."

"Yeah, but spa people always want to pluck my eyebrows," Blaine whined. "I like my eyebrows. And plucking hurts."

"I like your eyebrows too," Kurt said soothingly. "I promise I will protect you from the evil tweezers."

**BKBKBKBKBK**

Finn and Rachel's wedding was the first time that the entirety of New Directions was together since Kurt's graduation and the event served as a sort of reunion. While they tried to keep in touch, it was nice to actually see each other face to face and be able to really catch up.

The wedding itself was rather simple. The Berrys arranged for it to be held in one of the local parks, with the rose garden in the background and the pond off to one side. There was music and dancing, but everyone's favorite part of the reception was when Rachel announced that they would be having karaoke. She, of course, got to go first.

In all, it was a lovely wedding.

"What about us?" Blaine asked while he and Kurt danced to a slow song near the end of the night. "When are we going to get married?"

"Whenever you want," Kurt said. "I've been ready since the day you kissed me for the first time."

Blaine frowned. "You could have asked me. You know I'm not good at the romantic stuff."

Kurt shrugged. "I figured we'd get around to eventually. We've already got everything important. The rest is just formality."

"And a party," Blaine said. "Don't forget the party."

"And the presents," Kurt said teasingly. "We should definitely do it for the presents."

"Name a day," Blaine said seriously.

"March 15th," Kurt said without hesitation.

"Why March 15th?" Blaine asked.

"Because that's the day you kissed me," Kurt said. "You should remember that."

"I knew it was in March," Blaine said apologetically. "So we start planning our wedding for March 15th."

Kurt kissed Blaine. "Start? I've been planning this thing for years. You just have to catch up."

Blaine chuckled and conceded that Kurt probably had been planning forever.


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_Five years later_

Kurt was looking through the photo album of his and Blaine's wedding and smiling at all the happy memories. So much had happened since that wonderful day.

Finn and Rachel were still happy together, though they had gone through a few rough patches. Rachel had gotten her first Broadway lead not long after their wedding and was now making a reputation for herself as one of the best and brightest on Broadway. One of their biggest fights had happened when Rachel found out she was pregnant. She hadn't wanted to take the time off of work to be pregnant. But she did want to be a mom, so eventually she agreed to carry the baby if Finn would take on the care-taking duties afterward. Finn was quite happy to be a stay-at-home dad to their little girl until she was old enough for school.

Burt and Carole had returned to Lima after Burt's fourth term as congressman and had settled back into their quiet life there. They made frequent trips to New York, but were quite happy to remain in the town they both loved.

Wes and Tina had really hit it off and had gotten married a year after Kurt and Blaine. Up until the day they married, however, David and Wes continued to share an apartment. Then, while the happy couple was one their honeymoon, he moved to Tina's old apartment. Tina spent quite a bit of time trying to set David up with her friends. She was heard to complain that he was around more than Mike Chang's mother used to be and just as much of a cockblock. But she also said she wouldn't ever want to break up the insane twins. So David was a regular fixture in the Leung home.

Jamie and Ben often made trips up to New York, and had come up for the wedding. And then Ben was asked to be the head of the sociology department at NYU and the two made the move to New York as well. They even found an apartment only a few blocks from Kurt and Blaine and Kurt had the chance to show Jamie around the neighborhood this time.

Artie and his girlfriend, Sherry, were still together and they both claimed to be quite happy with the status quo. Neither of them was in a rush to get married. Sherry had finally gotten a job as a librarian at one of the branches of the New York Public Library and Artie completed his master's degree in marketing before taking a job with an advertising firm.

Brittany and Santana were still together. Britt was still dancing, but Santana had finished college and gotten a job as a reporter. Then she had gotten her own online column reporting on the music scene in New York. She was very happy trashing everyone else.

Quinn had gotten a degree in acting at Yale and had then headed out to LA. She and Puck had somehow reconnected and then broken up again. She had then met and married a movie producer and was happy raising his children while taking the occasional small role in films.

Puck, after striking out with Quinn for the second time, had settled down with a girl from San Diego. He had moved his pool cleaning business down there and was actually pretty successful. He had married the girl after a couple years and they were now proud parents of twin boys. Neither of them had Mohawks.

Mercedes' career hadn't yet gotten beyond the backup singer stage, but she was in high demand in the industry and always had work. More importantly, she had met a really great guy. He was an executive for a computer software company and made great money. They were pretty happy together.

Sam had gone to Ohio State on a synchronized swimming scholarship and had gotten his degree in physical education. He was now working as a teacher in Kentucky, near his parents and had married his college sweetheart. And she really was a sweetheart.

Mike had earned a spot in the Joffrey Ballet after graduating and had even taken the lead role in a few productions. He was still single, but he said he was happy that way for the time being. He knew that he only had a few years at the top of his field, and he could wait to settle down after he was past his dancing prime.

As for Kurt and Blaine, they were ridiculously happy. Blaine had finished his doctorate and had been offered a position teaching piano at Columbia. He sometimes performed with orchestras or for special events, but mostly he played for himself and for Kurt. But he got to be around music all day at work and that made him happy.

Kurt was still with the Metropolitan Opera. In fact, he was one of their top stars. He had gotten offers from opera companies around the world, and sometimes did short appearances for other companies, but he loved living in New York. He loved the life he and Blaine had built together.

"What are you doing?" Blaine asked, interrupting Kurt's musings.

"I was just thinking about how we got where we are," Kurt said. "And thinking how happy I am."

Blaine sat beside Kurt on the sofa and looked at the picture album. "That was the best day of my life."

"Mine too," Kurt said with a smile. "Until today."

"Until today," Blaine agreed. "Are you ready to go?"

"I just want to do one more check to make sure everything is ready," Kurt said. He got up and went down the hall to one of the guest rooms. Only it wasn't a guest room anymore. It was a nursery. Inside, everything was exactly as it should be. There were two cribs and two dressers. There were even two changing tables.

"Everything is perfect," Blaine assured Kurt from the doorway. "We just have to go pick up our babies."

Kurt smiled. Their babies. They had gone through a private adoption agency and had been connected with a young girl from North Carolina who was pregnant. When she agreed that Kurt and Blaine would be the perfect parents for her baby, none of them had known that she was pregnant with twins.

"I'm still so thrilled that she chose us," Kurt said. "I mean, she could have picked any of the hundreds of other couples."

"Yes, but she said that she really wanted her children to grow up with music in their lives," Blaine said. "That and she said I look a bit like the baby's father."

"And with her fine features, blue eyes and light brown hair, there's a good chance our babies will look a bit like us as they grow up," Kurt said. "I'll love them no matter what, but that would be nice."

"Yes, it would," Blaine agreed. "Come on. We're going to be late if we don't get moving."

They headed down to the street, Kurt carrying the diaper bag he had prepared and Blaine carrying two empty car seats. It only took about fifteen minutes to get to the hospital from their apartment and soon, the two men were on their way up to the neonatal ward. They had to sign a few documents to have the babies released and then the babies were being placed into their arms. It wasn't the first time they had held the twins, but it was the first time they had held them as their legal parents.

Before leaving the hospital, they stopped in to see Caroline, their babies' birth mother. She cried a little, but she was happy, too. She would be released the following day and heading back to North Carolina. Kurt and Blaine promised to send her pictures and if and when she was ready to see the babies, they would welcome her into their life.

Two hours after leaving, the small family returned home to find that all of their friends and family had invaded in their absence. Even Burt and Carole were present.

Even as Carole and Burt claimed first rights to holding their grandchildren, Blaine and Kurt smiled at each other.

"Dad, meet Elizabeth Rachel Hummel," Kurt said. Blaine had taken Kurt's name when they got married to avoid the long hyphenated name.

"Named after her angel grandmother and her auntie."

"And Carole, meet James Finnegan Hummel," Blaine said. "Named for his godfather Jamie and his Uncle Finn."

Jamie had tears in his eyes as he hugged Kurt and Blaine in turn. "I would be proud to be godfather!"

"And we thought you might like to be their godmother, Tina," Blaine said.

"Yes!" Tina shouted. "I'm all over that!"

There was laughter all around at Tina's response. And then everyone was fighting for a chance to hold one of the twins while Kurt and Blaine pretended to eat the food someone had brought but really were too busy staring at their babies to actually eat anything.

Eventually, most people left until it was only Burt and Carole left. Since they were staying in the guest room, they weren't going anywhere soon. But at least Burt and Carole gave Kurt and Blaine the chance to actually hold their children.

"I'm so proud of you, kiddo," Burt told his son. "You turned out a hell of a lot better than I could ever have hoped. And now you're a dad and I know you're gonna be great at that, too."

Kurt looked up from feeding James and smiled at his father. "If I am, it's because I had the best example ever."

Burt looked a bit teary eyed as he pressed a kiss to Kurt's temple and then pressed a kiss to the top of James' head.

Soon, Kurt and Blaine were left alone to get the babies ready for bed. Even once they were sleeping in their cradles, neither man was in a hurry to leave them.

"We should go get some rest while they are asleep," Blaine finally whispered, though he made no move to actually leave.

"They will be up in a couple hours looking for food," Kurt agreed.

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and hugged his husband close. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Kurt said as he laid his head on Blaine's shoulder.

"Maybe we could just watch them sleep for a while," Blaine said.

Kurt steeled himself and pulled away. "No. We need to at least try to sleep."

Reluctantly, they went to the master suite with the baby monitor and got ready for bed. Once they were both lying down, tucked up together in bed, they just lay in the dark listening to their babies breathing.

"They're ours," Kurt whispered.

"Yeah," Blaine said with wonder in his voice.

"You know, I knew the minute I met you that you were going to change my life," Kurt said. "And you did. You gave me courage when I was at my lowest point. You helped me find direction when I had no idea what I wanted for my future. You supported my dreams. And through it all, you loved me. And now... everything is changing and it's terrifying in so many ways, but I'm not afraid, because I've got you beside me."

"And you'll always have me," Blaine promised. "But I'm not the only one who changed a life. I was content in my gilded cage at Dalton, but you gave me the strength to fly free and find real happiness. You knew what I wanted for my future even before I did, on multiple occasions. You supported my dreams too, and you have this knack for taking care of me and our house and our finances and everything else that I'll never have. And you gave me a family. And I don't just mean today. You gave me your family because mine wasn't really a family. And best of all, you loved me. So, yes, I think this is pretty scary too, but I know we can do it because we have each other."

Kurt kissed his husband deeply and reveled in the love that still flowed so freely between them even after more than a decade together. Before they could get too involved in sharing their love, however, one of the babies began to whimper which then turned into a cry which then woke up the other baby. Kurt sighed and rested his forehead against Blaine's.

"Welcome to parenthood," Kurt said with a grin as he climbed from the bed. Blaine quickly followed him and together they dealt with their children's needs the way they handled everything...together.

**The End**

**A/N: **Okay, boys and girls, that's the end of this fluffy piece. I want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed. The sentiments are heartily appreciated. I wish I could tell you that I have another story ready to post, but that would be a lie. I am, however, always working on stories. The real question is when will I be finished. That I can't answer right now. I hope to get some writing done over the holidays, but we'll see. Thanks again for coming along for the ride! Jules


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